


Run

by Whydothingshappen



Category: Free!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Blood, Blood and Gore, Gen, M/M, Other, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-06 06:03:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 22,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1847110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whydothingshappen/pseuds/Whydothingshappen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mysterious disease invades the small town of Iwatobi and we follow the story of our favorite swimmers as they survive through a zombie apocalypse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rin, Nitori, and Seijuro

**Author's Note:**

> Because the second season of Free! is coming up in about a week, I haven't decided whether or not to try to add Souske into this story or not. Just because of complications and that I've been thinking of writing this story long before we all knew Souske existed, I might not. But please still enjoy this story, it's been my little gem in my head for awhile and I finally got the guts to write it!   
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

It had been just a couple weeks after the regional tournament where Rei had given up his position for Rin to race with Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa. Summer was just around the bend, with everyone finishing up finals. In the past week though, there had been a new disease going around. It first started off in Africa, but has slowly spread worldwide and now to Japan. It is spread through biting and to the recently deceased in the air, and the symptoms leave the person to be mad. They attack any human that moves, and is rumored to even eat human flesh. People have been warned to stay inside during night and to lock their doors once they arrive home, but now our story begins when it is too late for anyone to stay home, and for the quarantine process to begin in this small suburb.

At Samezuka Academy, unlike all the local schools, just finished the last of their finals and everyone is getting ready to go home for the summer. Rin and Nitori are in their rooms, Rin packing his things neatly into multiple boxes, while Nitori is on his bunk bed reading manga.

“You might want to start packing now so you don’t rush later on Ai,” Rin told Nitori.

“Senpai it’s fine! We aren’t going anywhere for the next two days, I have plenty of time!” Nitori says happily, “Just relax, we just finished finals.”

Rin sighed, kind of annoyed because Nitori’s desk looked like a tornado just went through it after all the studying he did for the past month. Nitori might have a happy look on his face now, but deep down Rin knows he’s genuinely terrified at what he got on his finals, so he left Nitori alone to relax for a bit.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise like glass breaking, a bunch of footsteps, and people screaming and…groaning? Nitori looked away from his book at Rin for answers, and Rin replied with a shrug that meant he didn’t know. They both went back to what they were doing for a minute, then the sounds got louder and louder, as if the building was a fire and chaos was brewing. Rin got annoyed at all the noise, so he threw down the stuff he was packing and went to the door and opened it.

“Hey guys shut the fu—”

There was blood on the floor with two more people shoving Rin out of the way, which made Rin fall down back into the dorm room. Nitori was startled and put down his book, went down from his bunk to help Rin up.

“Senpai! Are you okay?”

Usually Rin tells Nitori to stop calling him that, but he was too stunned at the blood all over the walls in the hallway. All he did was point at all the blood for Nitori to see, which made Nitori look up and see the blood dripping from the walls. Nitori quickly closed and locked the door while Rin was still on the ground.

“What’s…what’s going on?” Nitori asked.

“What…what the fuck? What’s with all the blood?!” Rin finally blurts out. Then they head another scream, but this voice was familiar. Seijuro.

“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!” Seijuro screamed, then hearing his footsteps, ran toward Rin and Nitori’s dorm room and slammed on their door, “RIN NITORI HELP ME!” he proclaimed.

Rin and Nitori hesitated to open the door, not knowing what the hell was going on out there, and then Nitori decided to open the door quickly with Seijuro falling in and another person who seemed to be attacking Seijuro in as well. Rin got up and threw the person who was attacking Seijuro back outside, and Nitori closed and locked the door.

“Seijuro what the fuck is going on?!” Rin yelled.

“Why is there blood everywhere?” Nitori asked.

Seijuro took a second to check himself for any bites on himself, and a chance to catch his breath, “You know that disease they’ve been talking about on the news lately? Well looks like we have an epidemic on our hands now.”

“What are you talking about? It looks like a damn zombie apocalypse out there right now!” Rin said.

“That’s basically what’s happening out there right now. There should be an evacuation—” an alarm outside, which alerted the whole town for an evacuation during emergencies only, went off and interrupted Seijuro, “ _that_ , should go off to tell us to get to the shore to be evacuated out of our town to quarantine.”

“Quarantine?!” Nitori exclaimed.

“Shit.” Rin said to himself.

“Quick, gather basic supplies, we need to go now,” Seijuro said.

“But what about the zombie that’s right outside our door?” Nitori asked.

“They’re not really a zombies, they’re just infected,” Seijuro corrected him.

“Does it matter? We can’t leave with it being in our way!” Rin said.

“Look, gather some things first, then we’ll figure out a plan to get rid of the infected,” Seijuro said. Then, there was a boom noise at the dorm room door. The infected heard them talking and is now trying to get in. Nitori and Rin quickly gathered some supplies in a small bag, and then Seijuro opened their window, to where you could hear more chaos happening below them. Seijuro ordered Nitori to man the door while he and Rin got in a position where they could jump the infected. On the count of three, Nitori opened the door to which the infected ran into the room, Rin and Seijuro grabbed him, and threw him out the window to in a couple seconds could hear the smash of his body hit the payment.

Rin and Nitori grabbed their bags and ran out to the emergency stairs with Seijuro to the exit outside to see the real horror of their new reality. Blood spots on the street, people yelling down the block from infected, people being caught and eaten by infected, it was something that stunned Seijuro, Nitori, and Rin. They soon snapped out of it and began to run towards the evacuation center.

They were a couple blocks away from the boats that were taking people away, and when they were blocked off by a hoard of infected going after them. They took a quick turn into an alleyway that lead to the boats, but as they were running, Nitori tripped and fell flat on his face. Rin turned around to go back for him.

“AI!” Rin said as he went back for him.

“RIN! COME BACK!” Seijuro yelled at Rin to go back after him.

“RIN! GO BACK!” Nitori yelled at Rin as he kept coming their way as infected ran towards Nitori. Nitori stood up, but his ankle was messed up as well and his nose was bleeding from the fall.

“I’M NOT LEAVING YOUR ASS BEHIND,” Rin said, then felt Seijuro pull him back.

“Rin we have to go,” Seijuro yelled.

“WE’RE NOT LEAVING AI BEHIND,” Rin proclaimed.

It was too late. An infected grabbed Ai by the shoulder and bit him. Seijuro grabbed Rin and practically dragged him away to the boats.

“AICHURRO!” Rin yelled in horror, seeing his friend being attacked by infected.

“RIN!” Nitori yelled and eventually went down and screamed in pain as his body was bitten all over by infected, and Rin could do nothing but run away.

 


	2. Makoto

**Chapter 2**

Makoto is in his room studying for his finals. He was on the math Pre-Cal problem of his study guide when he heard the evacuation alarm go off. The alarm startled him and made him fall out of his chair, brining his work with him. Makoto then got back up and looked out his window. Usually they tell the town ahead of time when they make the alarm go off as a test, and there’s no way that this is an actual evacuation. Suddenly, Makoto heard glass break downstairs and Ran scream. He ran downstairs to find a random person covered in the glass shards from their screen door and blood attacking Ran. Makoto was paralyzed in fear, as if one of his nightmares from those horror games Haru would bring over sometimes was coming true.

“MAKOTO HELP ME!” Ran yelled, but he couldn’t find the courage to move. His younger sister was able to maneuver away from the infected. Their dad was able to come in with a bat and smash the infected head in on their kitchen counter. The infected stopped moving, and its corpse fell onto the Tachibana’s kitchen floor, with blood staining their perfectly white tile island and floor.

Makoto was still standing in horror as the infected head fell from the kitchen counter to the floor and Ran crying into her Dad's arms. Soon Mrs. Tachibana came running into the scene from her bedroom in her robe to find the chaos that was happening. She screamed at the corpse on the floor.

“W-what’s happening?!” Mrs. Tachibana exclaimed.

“Ran, are you okay? What were you doing outside of your room?” Mr. Tachibana asked.

“I-I just wanted some water and then suddenly that guy just busted through the screen door and…” Ran couldn’t finish her sentence and just started to cry more into her father’s chest.

Ren came running out of his room to find his whole family on the brick of tears and his twin already in tears.

“Ran!” Mrs. Tachibana said and ran and hugged him for dear life.

“Mom, what’s going on? Is that a dead body?!” Ran said.

Suddenly the emergency alarm went off again outside, which startled the whole Tachibana family, but made them realize what kind of situation they were really in.

“We have to leave, now,” said Mr. Tachibana, then looked up to see his oldest son still paralyzed in fear on the stairwell, “MAKOTO, SNAP OUT OF IT!” he yelled at him. Finally Makoto came back to reality and realized the situation they were in and how they needed to leave.

“Honey, get the Ren and Ran in the car, Makoto and I will gather supplies for us and we’ll head to the pier,” Mr. Tachibana said.

Mrs. Tachibana nodded, “Okay. Come on kids, we need to get in the car,” she escorted them outside quickly to the car. Makoto came downstairs to help pack snacks, clothes, and an emergency kit with his dad.

“Makoto, you realize what’s happening right? That disease they were talking about on the news has become a serious epidemic and now they’re evacuating the whole town,” Mr. Tachibana said to Makoto, but realized he was too focused on gathering supplies and sweating like crazy out of fear he dropped a can out of his hand and stumbled to catch it as it rolled into the blood of the corpse on the floor, “Makoto!” Mr. Tachibana yelled then grasped Makoto’s shoulders to look at him, “You need to remember that you’re the oldest, you need to stop freaking out about everything. Especially now that we’re in this kind of situation, Ren and Ran will be looking up to you to figure out what to do.”

“I-I know Dad, I’m sorry,” Makoto said then looked away from him, already feeling disappointed in himself for just standing there when he could’ve just lost one of his siblings a couple minutes ago.

“It’s fine Makoto just…you have to start being brave now, don’t let your fears take over,” Mr. Tachibana said quietly, then picked up the bag then stood up, “Okay, that’s everything, we need to go now. I’m going to grab things from Ren and Ran’s room and you grab anything you’ll need from your room. Meet me in the car in one minute. Who knows if another infected will come in through the back?”

Makoto nodded then ran up to his room to grab a couple things. As he was up there, it ran through his mind if all of his friends were going to be okay. Then, he thought about Haru…that boy probably wasn’t even paying attention to the alarm and hasn’t even left his house yet. Knowing him he was probably in the bathroom…taking a bath…not paying attention to anything…

Makoto packed his bag, put on his tennis shoes, and ran downstairs to find his dad coming out of Ren and Ran’s room at the same time and heading outside to their van.

“Dad, I have to run to Haru’s—”

“What?! No, it’s too dangerous!”

“Dad, you know that Haru has probably not even realized the danger the town is in right now. He needs someone!”

“No Makoto, we need to get to the pier now. Your mother, Ren, Ran, and I don’t want anything bag happening to you. What if we get separated? Or worse, what if you get—”

“Dad I have to go get him, and nothing you say can stop me.”

Mr. Tachibana had a rare frustrated face on, and then looked at their van with Mrs. Tachibana, Ren, and Ran, then back at Makoto who was standing with his bag as if he was just going to sleep over at Haru’s during an emergency evacuation. He sighed, gave Makoto the bat he used to smash the infected head in and said, “Be careful. If I don’t see you and Haru in 15 minutes at the pier, I’m going after you myself,” he said seriously.

Makoto took the bat then said, “Thanks. I’ll see you soon Dad, don’t worry!” Makoto said as he ran down the street.

Mr. Tachibana got in the driver’s seat of the van and started it.

“Where’s Makoto going?!” Mrs. Tachibana exclaimed.

Mr. Tachibana looked at her and said, “Where do you think, to save his best friend.”


	3. Nagisa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short so I'm posting it early! I didn't really mean for it to be short, but it's mainly cause there's no speaking and it's mostly action. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

Nagisa got in a fight with his Dad again. He was on the brick of failing his math class and having to take summer school again if he didn’t pass this math final. Nagisa was going to go over to Rei’s house so he could help him study; Nagisa’s Dad wasn’t letting him. In fact, even though Nagisa’s grades have gotten better since he became friends with Rei, his Dad slowly grew suspicious of their relationship and even Nagisa’s sexuality. Nagisa told him again and again that they were just friends, but his Dad still kept his suspicions of him and Rei.

It got to the point where they were yelling and screaming at each other, and his Dad called Nagisa a faggot. That’s when Nagisa ran up to his room, locked his door, and started to cry. He hated his Dad. Although Nagisa did have a crush on Rei, he would never admit that to his Dad, Rei, or even himself. They were just friends. He wasn’t a faggot. Nagisa decided that in spite of his Dad, he would try to study. He opened his textbook to the problem set he was last on when he was with Rei, put on his headphones, and blasted music to try to get his mind off of what just happened.

About 10 problems later, he fell asleep from all the energy he wasted with the pointless argument with his Dad, and woke up to his playlist finished and the faint sound of some sort of alarm coming from outside. He raised his head out of the pool of drool on his pillow, took off his headphones to realize that it actually was the emergency evacuation alarm. At first he thought it was just a practice since those things have been there for decades with very few actual uses, so he went back to trying to study. After a whole album and only 7 more problems, Nagisa took off his headphones to notice the alarm was still going off. This time he became confused. The alarm had been going off for at least 20 minutes, why haven’t they turned it off yet? Maybe there was an actual emergency.

As much as Nagisa didn’t want to go downstairs again, he wanted to know what the hell was going on; he could just ask one of his sisters instead of his dick of a dad anyway. He slowly opened his door, and walked downstairs to find the living room covered in blood, and one of his sisters and his Dad on the floor, their intestines spewed all over the floor. Nagisa stared in terror, and then screamed at the top of his lungs. This caused one sister, his dad and the other sister who was on the ground, to wake up and notice the last of their family was still wasn’t infected. Nagisa bolted back to his room in terror to what he just witnessed. Maybe he was still dreaming? No, he could smell the copper of the blood coming from the stained carpet downstairs from his room. His family was coming to his room step by step to kill him, and he didn’t know what to do.

The door was finally reached and was being banged on. Thankfully it was locked, but that wasn’t going to keep them from getting in. Nagisa panicked from a couple minutes, not knowing how he was going to get out of this situation, when he remembered that he had a katana under his bed. When Nagisa was younger, his Dad thought a more manly activity for him was to practice Japanese sword fighting instead of swimming. Nagisa was in it for awhile, and was actually quite good at it, but starting his first year of high school he quit so he could start the swim club with his friends.

Nagisa grabbed a couple things from his room and put them in a bag, then grabbed his Katana out from under his bed. He took off the saya (scabbard), and prepared himself to slaughter his own family.

Nagisa opened the door and two of his sisters and his Dad ready to devour him, and the rest was a blur of blood, screaming, and running out the door to Rei’s apartment. 


	4. Haruka and Rei

**Chapter 4**

Haru has been sitting in the bath for the past 20 minutes, and the evacuation alarm has been going off for the past 10 minutes. He thinks nothing of it since they test it once ever few months, and tries to drown it out by going under the water in his bath until it wears off. After about a minute, Haru came up from the water gasping for air, but the alarm was still going off. He thought that these tests only last for a couple minutes, so he was curious to what was going on. Maybe there was an actual evacuation going on…for some reason. He didn’t watch TV or check the news that often, so maybe he missed something. He got out of the bath and put a towel around himself. When he opened the door to his bathroom, he heard pounding on his front door and screaming that sounded like Makoto.

“HARU! HARU OPEN THE DOOR!”

Yeah, that was Makoto. But why was he here so late, and why did he sound so panicked?

Haru went to open the door, still in his towel to find Makoto with a bag, and bloody bat, panting and panicking with some weird girl limping up behind him.

“What’s going on Makoto?” Haru asked calmly.

“There’s…the infection…chaos…blood…people are dead…we have to go to the pier NOW!” Makoto exclaimed.

“…? There’s someone behind you.”

Makoto turned around to find an infected girl just a couple feet away from biting Makoto. She goes in for the kill, but Makoto kicks her out of the way, and he rushes into Haru’s house and locks his door.

“Go get dressed, gather your things, we’re going to the pier,” Makoto demanded.

Makoto and Haru go to Haru’s bedroom, where Haru takes off his towel to reveal that he’s was wearing his swimsuit in the bath again.

“You’re wearing your swimsuit in the bath again?” Makoto questioned.

“I like it,” Haru said. Haru got dressed and gathered his things in a calmly manner. By the time Haru was ready to go, Makoto realized that they had less than five minutes to get to the pier before his Dad would actually go out looking for him. Makoto and Haru went downstairs to find that Haru’s front door was broken down and that there was the previous infected that almost attacked Makoto and another one idling in the living room. Makoto was paralyzed in fear while Haru analyzed the situation.

“We’ll make a breakthrough the kitchen, head to the back door, and jump the fence,” Haru whispered to Makoto, “Ready?”

Makoto gulped, and then nodded back to Haru. They race through the kitchen, making the infected hear them and chase them through the kitchen, but Haru and Makoto were too fast for them. They opened Haru’s screen door, run through the backyard, jump the fence, and then head down the street to the pier with about a minute to spare before they get there.

 

Rei was at home, studying for his math final when he suddenly he heard the evacuation alarm go off. At first, he thought it was nothing since it would go off as a test, but after about ten minutes, he knew it was real because the alarm had been going off for so long. He didn’t really know what was going on, so he turned on the news to find out that there was a local evacuation because of the recent disease that his Asia and now Japan. He went under his bed and brought out a bag he called his, “Emergency Bag” for occasions just like these. It had enough food, water, and clothes to last him and someone else at least a week if used rationally. He called his parents to tell them he was evacuating to the pier, and he hopes to see them soon. Before he leaves, he gets a phone call from Nagisa.

“Hello?” Rei answers.

“Rei gather your things! There’s a zombie apocalypse going on and I’m coming to save you!”

“Nagisa I know, the infected reached our town and I’m on my way to the pier now.”

“Okay! I’ll meet you halfway to the pier so we can go together.”

“Aren’t you going with your family?” Rei asked. The other line was silent, “Nagisa?” Nagisa hung up.

While Rei was a couple blocks away from the pier, he saw all the mayhem that had happened while he was trying to study. Blood and corpses on the street while people were running all over the place as the alarm went off as the theme song for the night. He hadn’t seen Nagisa yet, which made him worry. Then, something was coming towards Rei that was covered and blood and holding a…katana? At first he thought it was someone random person who was defending himself who got turned, so he tried to run past it, then realized that person had a pink backpack and blond hair...

“Nagisa-kun?”

“Rei-chan!”

Nagisa almost slices Rei in half as he came in to hug him. He forgot he was covered in blood though, so he got some on Rei’s clean shirt.

 “Nagisa are you alright? Why are you covered in blood?”

Nagisa went from a smile to as if he saw a ghost.

“Nagisa-kun?”

Nagisa shook his head, “I’ll tell you later, right now we need to get to safety!” He pulled Rei’s arm as they ran towards the pier.

When they get to the evacuation center, they see a long line of people of all ages getting on a boat. One boat just got full and is about to leave with another one coming in to take more people. People are crying, freaking out, covered in blood, completely clean, holding weapons, or just sitting silently. Nagisa and Rei get in line and sit down, with Nagisa putting his head onto Rei’s shoulder.

“Nagisa, will you now please tell me what hap—”

Rei turns towards Nagisa and sees that he had big tears running down his face before he finished his sentence.

 

 

 

 

 


	5. The Boat

**Chapter 5**

“Rei! Nagisa!” Makoto yells when he sees Rei and Nagisa in the line at the evacuation center. Rei looks up to see Haru and Makoto running towards them with bags and a bloodied bat in Makoto’s hand. He nudges Nagisa for him to look up, but he stays in the same crouched position he was in when they first got there. Haru and Makoto meet up with them in the line, exhausted from running all the way there.

“Hey, it’s good to know you guys are ok,” Rei says then looks at the bloodied bat, “Looks like you guys ran into some trouble too.”

Makoto looks back at the bloodied bat and says, “Oh yeah, just a little bit,” he then looks at Nagisa, who was covered in blood and crying next to Rei, “Nagisa, are you okay?” Makoto asked, but gets no response from Nagisa.

“He won’t tell me what happened, as soon as we sat down in the line he started crying, and I haven’t seen his family either…” Rei trailed off, trying to not say the worst case scenario.

Haru and Makoto didn’t say anything as they looked at Nagisa who hasn’t even looked up to acknowledge them. Makoto then tried to go over to Nagisa to give him a hug, but Nagisa nudged away and kept his head hidden from the world. Makoto felt bad that he couldn’t help his friend, but whatever happened must have really messed something up.

“HEY!” Makoto, Haru, Rei, and Nagisa hear in the distance and all except for Nagisa look up to see Seijuro and Rin running towards them. Once Seijuro and Rin got to where the rest of the boys were, Makoto noticed that Rin had tears streaming down his face as well.

“Rin, are you okay?” Makoto asked.

Usually Rin would have said something heinous back, but instead he hid his face, trying to cover the tears that started to stream harder now that it was pointed out that he was crying. Makoto looked to Seijuro for answers, but all Seijuro did was shake his head and look down as if he was mourning someone. Before anyone could say anything else, the line started moving to board the next boat. Rei nudged Nagisa to get up so they wouldn’t hold the line, and Nagisa slowly got up and moved along with the line with his face down silently sobbing. They were almost at the front of the line when they said the boat was full and they were brining in another one.

“NO THAT’S MY SON! MAKOTO! MAKOTO!” someone was yelling from the boat. Makoto looked up to see his mother, father, and siblings looking down at him while they were on the boat and he wasn’t.

“I’m sorry ‘mam but the boat is full, your son can meet up with you later from the next boat.”

“You can’t let one more person on this boat?! There’s plenty of room!” Mrs. Tachibana exclaimed.

“I want my brother!” Ran yelled at the police man.

“Ran hush,” Mr. Tachibana whispered to Ran.

“’Mam I’m sorry but we can’t, it’s a fire hazard.”

“MOM!” Makoto exclaimed and waived down his family, “I’LL BE FINE! I FOUND MY FRIENDS. I’LL SEE YOU SOON!”

The boats horn went off signing; it was ready to move to its next destination. The boat slowly floated away, and Makoto waived to his family while they waived back and his siblings cried for him. When the new boat came up, the line started to move again and the swimmers each went through a scanner to see if any of them had the virus: all of them were still pure. Next they went through a scanning process as if at the airport. When Nagisa went up to be scanned, security told him, “Sir we’re going to have to confiscate that weapon,” as they went to grab it, Nagisa clenched onto the katana and looked up at the person with a serious face, “It’s a family heirloom, I promise not to use it.” After being taken aside with other security officers to be “interrogated”, Nagisa was able to keep his katana as long as he cleaned up the blood with a cloth they gave him before he got on the boat. Makoto’s bat on the other hand was confiscated because it was considered a weapon and because it had blood all over it.

When they’re all aboard the boat, they all sit outside in a circle in silence. The ones with the strongest personalities were silently crying while everyone else awkwardly looked at the ocean. After the boat sets off for its next station, Haru opens his bag to take out a water bottle to give to Nagisa, and Nagisa refuses the bottle and keeps his head down.

“Nagisa, Rin, I’m worried about you two. Are you sure you guys don’t want to talk about it?”

“No! I don’t want to talk about it!” yelled Nagisa, surprisingly. It startled everyone including other people around them. Nagisa then got up and walked away from the group to the other side of the boat. This left the group in a bigger silence, until Haru said, “Rin, what happened?”

Seijuro quietly said, “We were all on our way here, then Nitori tripped while we were being chased and—”

 “Nitori is dead,” Rin bluntly said, looking down at the ground in terror as if he was witnessing his best friend’s death again.

This left Makoto, Haru, and Rei stunned, and Seijuro with his head down again but with a tear streaming down his face. Haru then offered the water to Rin, which Rin replied with a yank of the bottle, having a sip, and giving it back to Haru.

After about five minutes of silence, Rei got up and said, “I’m going to go find Nagisa,” and left to follow the path Nagisa made when he stormed off earlier.

Rei found Nagisa on the exact other side of the boat, learning on the rails looking off into the sea. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his face was still soaked in sadness.

“Nagisa-kun,” Rei said once he got a couple feet away from him.

Nagisa was startled by him, but when he saw it was Rei, he looked back at the sea, but more relaxed. Rei walked slowly next to Nagisa, as if he was a baby deer he was trying not to startle, and stood next to him by the railing. They stood there in silence for a bit, both looking out into the sea, trying to establish the new situation of them existing next to each other before either of them spoke.

“Nagisa-kun, what happened?” Rei asked softly.

It was silent for a minute, but Rei knew that Nagisa heard him.

“…I slaughtered my family,” Nagisa said quickly and quietly. He gripped the rails tightly, then released them and continued, “They were infected while I was in my room and I found them all…and I had my katana under my bed…and then I…,” Nagisa started to tear up again, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he continued to say until his words turned into sobs.

The security guards started to make everyone head inside of the boat to sleep, which made Rei worry because him and Nagisa weren’t with their group at the moment.

“Nagisa, they’re making everyone go inside the boat, we should find our group so we can go with them.” Nagisa wasn’t budging from the rail, “Nagisa,” Rei then put his hand on Nagisa’s shoulder, which made Nagisa flinch but look up to see what was happening. Nagisa nodded, and slowly treaded back with Rei to their group so they wouldn’t lose them.

When Rei and Nagisa got back to the group, they were about to go inside the boat and caught them just in time. They were assigned to a small corner with some smelly blankets and hard pillows to all sleep in. They were told they’d get to their destination in the morning, and just to be quiet so everyone can sleep. The swimmers tried to adjust themselves to their new environment to get some sleep, so at least the next day they can start to adjust to their new lives in their new world of chaos.


	6. 2 Years Later

**Chapter 6**

**2 Years later…**

“Rin-san, wake up,” Rei says to Rin. Rin groans and rolls over in reply to Rei.

“Seriously Rin, we’re going to be late to the next expedition if you don’t get up, then we’ll be in trouble!”

“Alright alright geez, I’m getting up,” Rin says. His hair is longer, and his attitude is just as strong. He pulls his hair into a ponytail, gets up, and walks over to the kitchen area of the one bedroom apartment he, Rei, Nagisa, Haru, and Makoto shared. Seijuro was away on a mission on the other side of the country for awhile, and wouldn’t be back for another month. It was feeling pretty cramped anyways, but Rin did miss him a bit.

Haru is cooking oatmeal for the group to get ready to go to work. Makoto is standing next to Haru, hovering over him like a mother hen.

“Makoto I can stand perfectly fine,” Haru says to Makoto, “Go sit down, the oatmeal is almost ready.”

“I’m just making sure your new leg is stable. I don’t want you to fall over or anything while you’re cooking—”

“I’m fine,” Haru says bluntly, then takes the pot of oatmeal and fills each of the bowls set out on the table. Makoto is taken aback from the tone Haru uses, but goes to sit down at his seat that’s next to Haru’s. As soon as all the bowls are full, Rin and Rei come out of the bedroom and sit down at the table to eat.

 “Where’s Nagisa?” Makoto asks.

“Where do you think,” Rin says as he picks up a spoon full of oatmeal to then make it pour back into the bowl, “out on the porch looking at nothing.”

“Did he not sleep again?” Haru asked.

“Not that I know of,” Rei says and then stands up, “I’ll go get him,” he walks away from the table to the porch area.

Nagisa is outside holding onto the rails of the porch looking at what seems like nothing. Bags are under his eyes as he stares blankly until he is startled by the screen door opened by Rei.

“Nagisa, breakfast is ready.”

“Hm,” Nagisa replied.

“Come eat with us, I don’t want you to pass out during work.”

“…okay,” Nagisa agrees, turns around and walks slowly inside and to the breakfast table. He sits down, picks up a spoon full of oatmeal, and eats it slowly.

The chatter at the table stops as soon as Nagisa sits down. Everyone has been worried about Nagisa ever since this whole thing happened. He talks less, eats less, and barley gets 20 hours of sleep per week.

Now that society had to go back to its basics, everyone worked to earn their share to create a new world again. A good 80% of the world’s population died during the Infection Period. Countries have been reduced to colony size, trying to recover each part of their land piece by piece from the infected corpses that still hunt after those who are pure.

When the swimmers first arrived at their destination, they realized they were at a different area than Makoto’s family. They were registered into this new area called “Area 7”, and were assigned all together into a one bedroom apartment to stay in. They were told that only one person is allowed to stay home, but it’s highly recommended that they all work or else they would get less money. Rin, Rei, Nagisa, Haru, and Seijuro were all admitted into the Japanese army that was specifically made to exterminate the rest of the infected in Japan so their people would return to a normal life as soon as possible. After an accident involving Haru’s leg though, Haru was allowed to stay at home on injury leave. Makoto started to work at the Area 7 market, where people would go to trade and buy goods from all over the area.

The sound of an alarm went off outside, signifying that it was 8:45AM and that they all had 15 minutes to get to work or else they’d be late, and in trouble. Being late to your job meant you were docked pay for that day, so it made sure everyone showed up to work and showed up to work on time.

“We’d better get going,” Rei said as he took the last bite of his oatmeal.

Rin sighed, “Damn it, I hate this,” he said as he stood up, only eating a couple bites of his oatmeal.

“It’s all we have until your guys get paid Rin,” Haru said as he took up everyone’s bowls. As Haru is walking towards the sink, he trips and all the bowls and leftover oatmeal spills onto the floor.

“Haru! Are you okay?” Makoto asks as he goes over to help him get up.

“I’m fine,” Haru says as he slowly gets up. Makoto went over to him and grabbed his arm to then be denied the help he was giving, “I said I’m fine!”

Haru slowly got up and started cleaning up the mess he created. Haru recently got a prosthetic leg and was still getting the hang of it. When Nagisa would have an episode at work and was sent home, he would help out Haru with practicing walking around their neighborhood and not giving him any of the sympathy that he didn’t want. Sadly, Makoto kept doing that and it was really getting to him.

 Rei, Nagisa, and Rin went and grabbed their weapons that were hung by the front door like a coat: Bow and arrow for Rei, a machete for Rin, and Nagisa’s katana for Nagisa. Then Rei, Nagisa, Rin, and Makoto went out the door to their jobs and left Haru in the house alone for the next 10 hours.

Haru finished cleaning up the mess within a couple minutes, washed the dishes, and then went to the bathroom to soak in the bathtub.

 


	7. Work

Rei, Rin, Makoto, and Nagisa walk to their jobs together. They live in the middle of Area 7 in the residential area. Most of the people who live there are young people and families who work for the Japanese army, and then a couple of them with miscellaneous jobs like Makoto who works for the Area 7 Market. After a couple blocks, Makoto strays off to the left to his job, while the rest walk straight ahead to the military buildings.

“I hope we’re not sent outside this time,” Rin says to make conversation.

“We probably will. There’s been a heard of the infected coming in from the eastern point that they’ll want us to get rid of,” Rei replied.

“Man you’re lucky at least! You’re part of their ‘analyst committee’ you’ve barley killed any of those things!”

“Well they need my strategy skills in order to keep you guys alive.”

Rin turns away, “Whatever, I still think it’s unfair.”

They reach the military building, where other people were entering to get their morning assignments. They all lined up for roll call and were then given their assignments. Sadly, Rin, Rei, and Nagisa’s group were assigned to go outside since a herd of the infected had been lurking around the eastern section of the fencing around Area 7. Rin, Rei, Nagisa, and about ten others all got in a military truck and were driven out to take care of the problem.

As they were riding in the truck, Rei looked at Nagisa to make sure he was okay. He had a glassy look in his eyes, as if he wasn’t in reality because he barely got any sleep. For the past two years, Rei has basically been Nagisa’s caregiver. Nagisa hasn’t been able to healthily deal with what happened to his family because there hasn’t been any time for him to deal with it. He’s had nightmares and mood swings to where no one knows what to do with him anymore. Although he has been a walking train wreck, he has been one of the best skilled fighters of the recently brought up army in Area 7. So far he has killed over 100 infected and assisted with more than 100 in the past two years.

When they arrived at their destination, they were given an attack strategy and sent out to take care of the infected that were messing up the fence. There were about 15 infected who were in the area outside of Area 7 they were in, and they went in and attacked. Nagisa went in and sliced eight of them by the time the other seven were taken care of by everyone else. Besides Nagisa’s friends, not a lot of people associated themselves with him. Rumors were spread about what happened to him and his family, so no one really knew what to say around him because of it.

When they got back, they had lunch and then were all called in for a special announcement by the general of Area 7.

“We have a special mission that we’ve created for specific people to visit Area 4 next week for classified reasons. Those people are…”

The general called out some names then got to, “Matsuoka Rin,” Rin poked his head up from not really paying attention. Why was he going all the way to Area 4? It was all the way up in northern Japan while they were in central. After the names were called out, Rin went up to the general.

“Um, Sir?”

“Yes Matsuoka,” the general replied.

“Why am I going on this trip?”

“You’ll find out as soon as you get there.”

“But what am I qualified for? Hazuki Nagisa has better fighting skills than me, and Ryuugazaki—”

“Both of their skills are needed here, and your skills are needed for this specific mission. I need to go; we’ll talk about what you will be doing the day you get to Area 4,” and the general walked off before hearing Rin’s final words of persuasion.

 

After work, Rin, Nagisa, and Rei met up with Makoto on their walk home.

“You’re going away too?” Makoto asked Rin.

“Yeah apparently, I have no idea why though,” Rin replied.

“Do you know how long you’re going to be gone?”

“No, they just said that I was leaving next week for ‘classified reasons’.”

“Huh, weird.”

“Do you know anything about this Rei?” Rin asked Rei.

“No, this was the first time I heard about it. It must be important if the reasons are classified,” Rei replied.

When they got home, Haru made a stew of potatoes and meat with some rice. The dinner table was mostly filled with sounds of everyone eating from a long days work, until, “You’re leaving?” Haru asked.

“I’m not leaving for good, I’m just going away for a bit to Area 4,” Rin said.

“For how long?”

“I’m not sure; I just know I leave next week for ‘classified reasons’.”

 Nagisa hadn’t touched his meal at all and just stared at it blankly.

“Nagisa, aren’t you hungry?” Rin asked.

“Not really,” Nagisa replied.

“I didn’t made food for five for nothing Nagisa, eat,” Haru demanded.

“I’m tired,” Nagisa said.

“That’s because you haven’t been sleeping dummy,” Rin said.

“Eat first then go to sleep, okay?” Rei said to Nagisa.

“…okay,” Nagisa said, and then picked up his chopsticks and slowly ate. He was the last person to finish, but at least he finished. Nagisa wasn’t as hungry as he used to be. There were multiple times when Haru would sit with Nagisa so he would make sure he finished his dinner when they got home. Nagisa ate about half of his meal, and then he got up and went to the bedroom and went to sleep.

“Well at least he’s finally getting some sleep,” Rin said as he finished his food, “I’m gonna go outside for a bit,” he got up as well and went outside to the porch.

Makoto helped Haru clean up the rest of the plates from the table, and then went outside to the porch too. Rin was startled by the door opening, then relaxed when he saw that it was Makoto. Lately Makoto and Rin have been getting closer every since the infected inherited the earth. They would talk a lot especially at night about things from what happened at their jobs to their fears for the future state of their country.

“Sure is a beautiful night,” Makoto said to break the silence.

“Yeah,” Rin replied.

“Are you doing okay Rin? You seem irritated by something,” Makoto said concerned.

“Hmm? Yeah I’m fine just…thinking about the past and all…”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it’s the second anniversary to the whole incident and all.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. I just…”

“Rin don’t tell me you’re—”

“I just…miss him.”

“You know it wasn’t your fault right?”

“I mean…I could’ve saved him.”

“Rin you know—”

“I know I know! I just…I really miss him. If I just pulled him along with me I might have been able to—”

“Rin, I don’t like to be blunt but what’s in the past is in the past, and you need to accept that. You know he wasn’t mad at you for what happened, and he just wants you to move and on be happy. We all want that.”

“I know I just,” Rin started to tear up, and Makoto went over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay,”

“I’m sorry I…I miss Ai.”


	8. Haru's Leg

The next morning after everyone left for work, Haru once again went into the bathroom and took a bath. His swimsuit worn and stretched out after having it for two years and wearing it almost every day without being able to get a new one. He missed swimming. No one had time to swim because of the whole infected situation, and Haru himself didn’t even know if he could swim the same again after what happened to his leg:

_Haru, Nagisa, Rei, and Rin were together with about 20 other people gathering supplies from an abandoned store. While they are getting some canned food, a boom is heard from the back, and they are ambushed by more infected than they could handle._

_“MAKE A RUN FOR IT!” someone yells._

_“Shit, run guys!” Rin says._

_Rei and Makoto are carrying are carrying the food in large backpacks, and Rin, Nagisa, and Haru are protecting them. As they try to move as fast as possible while having canned foods in their possession, they are blocked off by three infected, which are sliced each by Nagisa._

_“Come on, we have to keep going!” Nagisa says._

_As they get to the front of the store, they see they are blocked off by a giant group of infected, too big to fight off on their own. They see most of their group they came with have been bitten and eaten, and they must find another way out of the store before it’s too late._

A knock is heard at the door. Haru is still in the bathtub, and is now annoyed at the fact he has to get up. He opens the door and sees that it is Nagisa. Nagisa walks in without saying a word.

“What happened now?” Haru asks.

“I got in a fight,” Nagisa says.

“With who?”

“Some guy; He was talking shit about me.”

Haru rolls his eyes at the juvenile act that Nagisa had committed. There were numerous times when Nagisa was sent home because of his behavior, and the only reason he hasn’t been discharged is because he’s one of the most skilled fighters in Area 7.

“What do you mean, ‘talking shit’?” Haru asks.

“I accidently bumped into him and he called me a nutcase, words were exchanged and then I punched him in the face.”

“Nagisa—”

“I know I shouldn’t have done anything, it just pisses me off when people say stuff like that about me.”

Haru sighs and it is silent. They sit together at the dining room table in silence as they try to make peace with what Nagisa had done, and move on.

“How’s your leg?” Nagisa asks.

_They find a way through the back of the store that hadn’t been inhabited by many infected, mostly shot and hung corpses of those who ended their lives properly rather than become an infected. They get outside and must get over a broken wired fence. As they cut through the fence, Haru is the last one to make it across, but his pant leg is caught in the wiring as he climbs over and it is ripped to the calf and he falls._

“Fine,” Haru says.

“…”

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Nagisa says.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh. Um…I guess.”

“You haven’t been sleeping or eating well.”

“I’m just not hungry or tired.”

Haru scoffs, “It’s not that.”

“…it’s been two years since…that.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

There was more silence.

“You shouldn’t burden yourself over it,” Haru said.

“I know.”

“You are though.”

“…yeah.”

“Do you want to take a bath?”

Nagisa chuckles, a rare sight to see, “No, I’m good.”

“Suit yourself, you interrupted mine,” Haru gets up; “I’m going to go back,” Haru walks back to the bathroom.

“Do you miss swimming Haru?”

This question makes Haru stop in his tracks.

“…Of course,” he replies.

_Haru’s leg gets caught in the broken wiring of the fence, and as he tries to untangle himself, an infected from the other side comes and bites his calf that’s stuck. He stabs the infected in the head with his butcher’s knife, but already knows his fate._

_“SHIT!” Haru cries, “I’M BIT!”_

_“Oh fuck,” Rin says and panics._

_No one wanted to leave Haru, but they knew it was too late for him until._

_“Everyone stand back! Haru, this is going to hurt, brace yourself,” Nagisa said. Nagisa takes out his katana, and cuts off Haru’s leg from below the knee. Haru cries out in pain and tears stream down his face, “Haru you’re going to have to endure the pain until we get you back to base,” he says as he puts Haru’s arm over his shoulder, “Stand up with your other leg,” Haru was still in shock and breathing hard from his lower right leg being cut off, “HARU STAND UP,” Nagisa yelled, then Haru struggled but was able to stand up, “Okay, let’s go,” Nagisa says and starts to walk quickly._

Haru keeps walking to the bathroom and goes back into the bathtub to soak some more.

_“Hold him down!” the doctor yells as he gets the stitching out. Makoto and Rin hold Haru’s arms down as the doctor goes in and stitches up what he can and Haru passes out from the pain._

“It’s not enough,” Haru mumbles.

_Haru wakes up hours later, to his lower right leg not feeling right to then remember what happened earlier today. He looks down from his cot to see his lower right leg is gone, and all that’s left is a nub for his right thigh._

_“SHIT!” He yells and slams his hand down on the bar of the cot, then starts to cry again and holds his arm over his face to hide the tears. The doctor and Makoto come in to find that Haru has woken up and is a mess._

_“Haru!” Makoto said._

_“Haruka, your lower right leg has been amputated and we have given it the best care we can in this situation. Your wound should heal and you have no trace of the infection virus since your leg was cut off in time, but we’re not sure we’ll be able to give you a prosthetic anytime soon,” the doctor said without any warning. Haru was still crying._

_“Haru it’s okay. You’re not infected,” Makoto said, trying to reassure Haru._

_“It’s not that,” Haru said._

_“What is it?” Makoto asked._

_Haru says with a sob, “I…I will never be…able to swim again.”_

 


	9. Late Night Conversations

“I’m just worried about him,” Makoto says.

“We’re all concerned for Haru’s safety,” Rin replies back. It’s late at night again, and Rin and Makoto are talking, “You’re just going a bit overboard.”

“It’s just I was there for his whole operation and his whole breakdown. I’ve never seen him so distraught before, why aren’t I able to worry about him this much?!” Makoto said.

“Because it’s been three months since he got that prosthetic. He’s been able to walk well with it on, and when he fell the other day was the first time I saw anything like that in about a month!”

“Yeah you’re right, I need to stop.”

There was silence as they looked up at the sky. Instead of being on the porch though, they were by one of the abandoned buildings that were destroyed during the infection invasion. They come to talk here sometimes when everyone else wants to go to sleep and they don’t want to wake them with their conversation.

“Hey Makoto,” Rin says.

“Hmm?”

“Can I talk to you about something kind of…personal?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I’ve just been thinking about…well, I’ve been thinking about Ai again and…okay look, don’t tell _anyone_ about this okay?”

“Okay, I promise.”

“I…I’ve realized that the reason why I haven’t been able to get over him is well…okay so you know how I consider myself…gay right?”

“Yeah,”

“So a couple weeks after the whole regional tournament, Ai and I sort of started…going out and I…”

“I didn’t know Nitori was gay too.”

“I didn’t either until we started talking and he kind of confessed his feelings for me, and then I realized I kind of liked him too, and one thing led to another and we went on a couple dates.”

“Huh,”

“Yeah, and I guess it’s just because it’s been around two years and all but, I just really miss him and I…I feel like I might have actually loved him.”

Makoto didn’t know what to say to that.

“Sorry to bring the mood down, I just felt like if I said it out loud it would help.”

Makoto scoots closer to Rin and says, “Sometimes you have to do that to help you cope with things,”

“Yeah,” Rin says, “Makoto, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“I’m glad that you’re my friend.”

Makoto was surprised by Rin’s compliment, and Rin continued, “You’ve always been there for me, and even when I was going through all that stuff with Haru back in high school and even in primary school, you still wanted to be my friend. You’re just…so kind to everyone, someone like you only comes around so often and—sorry I’m kind of just rambling—”

“Thank you,” Makoto says, “It’s good to know that I’ve been a good friend to you,” he then smiles at Rin, and Rin blushes.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Rin says as he looks away from Makoto, “Thank you for being there for me Makoto, I really appreciate it.”

“You welcome Rin,” Makoto says.

The next few minutes were spent in peaceful silence.

“Rin?” Makoto said, breaking the silence softly.

“Hmm?”

“Do you mind if I share something personal too?” Makoto asks.

“What is it?”

“Well I…I’ve been thinking it through for awhile now, and well…remember when we were kids you were all curious and stuff and you asked me and I said yeah its fine cause I didn’t know better and we more or less kind of…kissed?”

Rin blushed, “…yeah.”

“Well the thing is when you left I kind of experimented a bit myself throughout middle school and I well…I’ve been considering myself bisexual.”

Rin was surprised by Makoto confession.

“Really?” Rin said.

“Y-yeah well I mean I don’t really talk about it much and I never told my parents but, after the past year I think I’m ready to admit it aloud myself,” Makoto said with a satisfied smile.

“Does Haru know?” Rin asks.

“Yeah, but he thought it was no big deal,” Makoto answered, “In fact he said he thought I was just gay,”

Rin chuckled at that remark, Makoto then glared at him, and Rin stopped laughing, “Sorry,” Rin says.

Makoto looked at Rin, and Rin looked back at Makoto, then suddenly Makoto kisses Rin on the cheek. Rin quickly turned towards Makoto in shock.

“What the fuck dude?!” Rin exclaimed.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve had any kind of…relations.”

“I didn’t even know you’ve had any kind of relations!”

“I’m not some innocent little thing Rin, I’ve done things!”

“Okay fine but you don’t just spring a kiss on someone without saying anything ahead of time!”

“…so, do you want to kiss?” Makoto awkwardly asks.

“What?!”

“Well you wanted me to know ahead of time and no one’s around. Do you…do you want to kiss?”

Rin blushed then turned away from Makoto. For some reason he couldn’t say no, but now he was questioning himself if he even wanted to say no.

“Hey Makoto,” Rin says.

“Yes?”

“You know how I kissed you when we were younger because I was curious and stuff?” he said blushing as he turned around back to Makoto.

“Yeah,” Makoto said as he got closer to Rin, and putting his hand on top of one of Rin’s hands.

“Well, since I kissed you when you were younger, you kissing me could be seen as an IOU or something—”

Rin was cut off by Makoto grabbing his chin and kissing him on the lips. Rin was surprised, but then sunk into the kiss and closed his eyes. He hated himself for doing this, but he couldn’t help it. Rin then opened his mouth in acceptance to the kiss from Makoto. It’d been so long since both of the boys have done anything, and since they’ve been getting closer with their friendship, they both saw all of this as an excuse to make out for a bit; or possibly more if they’re not caught.

 


	10. Area 4

Nagisa wakes up in the middle of the night, noticing Makoto and Rin are gone but not really caring. He gets up and goes outside to take a walk. This was the usual time Nagisa got up at night and went out for a walk to keep him from annoying the others while they sleep. He didn’t feel the need to bother others with his own problems, especially ones that happened so long ago. He walks down the street to an abandoned building he sometimes hangs out in since no one is usually around. He hears something coming from one of the sides of the wall. It sounded like some kind of groan, did an infected get inside? Nagisa was ready to attack and made a ready stance to attack the infected with his bare hands. There have been times when he was away from his sword and attacked, and had to improvise. He quietly walked towards the corner of the next part of the building, and then hears another moan, but this one more…sensual?

Oh god. Someone was hooking up at his usual hang out spot. I mean, they were out in the open so they were probably just making out but…god damnit. Nagisa was hoping to just have some alone time where he could enjoy the summer night but now these idiots had to go and ruin it. He decided that if he walked by them and went to another building that was also in ruins, that he could just hang out there instead.

Nagisa walks out of the corner and notices that from a distance that they’re both…guys? Huh, interesting, good to know he’s not the only “faggot” in Area 7. Wait, one of them has red hair and the other has brown…they look so familiar—oh my god that’s Makoto and Rin. Nagisa stops in his tracks about 10 feet away from Makoto and Rin making out and--is Makoto’s hand in Rin’s pants?! Nagisa didn’t know what to do, so he coughed loudly to see if that would do anything. Rin and Makoto stopped sucking face and looked to see that Nagisa was looking at them in shock. They all stared at each other for a moment, then Makoto realized that he still has his hand down Rin’s pants (which was the main reason why Nagisa was _still_ starring at them) and quickly took out his hand from Rin’s pants and said, “N-N-Nagisa, what are you doing here?!”

“I couldn’t sleep so I came out to take a walk,” Nagisa said back.

“Okay look, no one says _anything_ about what happened here tonight, okay?” Rin said.

“Okay,” Makoto says.

Nagisa nods nervously.

“Okay.” Rin says firmly, and then gets up and walks quickly back to their apartment while blushing, “Come guys let’s go to sleep, we have work in the morning.”

The next morning, Rin leaves for Area 4.

“When will you be back?” Haru asks.

“I don’t know. It shouldn’t be that long though, they didn’t say it was a long term mission like Seijuro’s,” Rin replies.

Makoto looked at Rin for a second, then looking away while slightly blushing, trying not to reveal what happened last night, “Have a good trip Rin.”

“Bye Rin,” Nagisa says.

“At least they’ll be more room to sleep once you’re gone,” Rei says.

“Hey!” Rin exclaims.

Rei grins, “I’m kidding. Have a safe trip Rin.”

“Heh, that’s more like it,” Rin says and grins back at Rei.

A honk is heard from a military truck carrying others outside the apartment building. Others are heard throughout the building walking down to the truck awaiting them.

“Well, I’ve got to go. Bye guys!” Rin walks out of the apartment.

The trip is long and boring, with a few exciting moments of killing some infected that are in the way. They first went on truck a few hours out to the shore, and then a boat ride that lasted about a day and a half. Most of the trip consisted of watching the shoreline pass by until they finally reached Area 4.

Area 4 has more people than Area 7, and that meant more infected to deal with. Everyone on the boat assumed that they were coming to deal with an infected problem that was getting out of hand, but they were told those rumors were false. The first day they were there was a relaxing day for them to walk and tour around the Area, and then the next day they would get down to business.

Rin was walking around one of three Area 4 markets, trying to kill time since he wasn’t really friends with any of the members that came with him from Area 7. Suddenly, he hears his name being yelled from across the street.

“RIN!”

Rin turns around to see some girl with short red hair yelling his name, but the girl looked familiar…

“RIN!” the girl yelled again and ran towards Rin at the speed of light with a bag of groceries in her hand. Wait is that…Gou?!

Before the whole situation could register into Rin’s brain, Gou tackled Rin and started crying.

“Rin,” she sobbed, “Big brother, I missed you,” she continued to cry.

Rin began to hug Gou back and start to cry too, but hid his head in her shoulder that has gotten closer to his height.

“Gou…” is all Rin could say.

After both of the Matsuoka’s calmed down, they found a bench to sit at and catch up.

“Have you been here this whole time?!” Rin asked.

“Yeah, I was able to get on a boat in time, but mom had to get on another boat. She’s currently living in Area 1, but I haven’t heard from her for the past couple months,” Rin sighed happily knowing that his mom was still alive and Gou continued, “For now I’m working as a nurse for the military and I’m living in an apartment with—” Gou gasped and stood up. Rin was confused and gave Gou a weird look.

“What?” Rin said to the look in Gou’s eyes.

Gou looked at Rin like she just found a pot of gold, “YOU DON’T KNOW DO YOU?!”

“Know what?”

Gou grabbed her brother’s arm, “FOLLOW ME AND DON’T ASK ANYMORE QUESTIONS,” Rin was yanked along a road that leads to Gou’s apartment. It was of lesser quality than the one he was staying in, but it still looked like it would stand. She took him up to her apartment, which was studio sized with a small kitchen, and a bathroom and declared, “YOU HAVE TO SEE HIM,” but no one was home, to which Gou dropped her groceries on the floor and had a disappointed look on her face, “He’s not here.”

“Who’s _he?_ ” Rin asked, “Do you have a _guy_ living with you? Do you have a _boyfriend_ in the hell of a world we live in now?”

“What?! No! I just…I can’t tell you until he shows up,”

“Until _who_ shows up?!” Rin exclaimed.

Suddenly there was the jingle of keys at the front door, and Gou got excited all over again she opened the door herself without the man behind it being able to grab his key from the lock in the door. The man was slightly smaller than Rin, an eye patch, silver hair…a blue eye, “…Ai?”

“…Rin?”

 


	11. Explanations

Rin and Ai stand starring at each other for what seems like an eternity. Either of them can’t believe that their companion is still alive and standing in front of them. Ai made the first move and ran in to hug Rin for dear life.

“Rin…” Ai said softly.

Rin was still stunned as tears streamed down his face. He looked down to see the man he that was hugging him was real and an older Ai. Rin grasped Ai and put his head down in the nape of his neck, “Ai…Ai…you’re alive.”

Gou was in the background smiling at the fact that she was reunited with her brother, and her brother is reunited with his boyfriend.

Gou prepared some tea as Rin and Ai sat at the small table in the kitchen.

“Ai…how are you alive?” Rin asked as he still looked at Ai in awe. Ai’s hair was longer and styled to where he had a slanted bang that covers a white eye patch and a thick scar on his lower eyelid, “And, what happened to…your eye?”

Ai smiled sadly at Rin’s questions and replied, “It’s a long story Rin,” and then looked at Gou.

Gou came and brought the tea and sat it down on the table with two cups of tea, and then she went and grabbed her bag from the front of the door.

“Wait Gou, aren’t you staying?”

“I need to go out and run a couple errands and you two need to do some talking of your own,” Gou said with a smirk. Ai looked down in embarrassment. Gou grabbed the groceries that fell, put them back in the kitchen, then said, “Bye Rin! I’ll be back soon Ai!” and she left before Rin could say anything. Rin looked back at Ai though and just smiled. He was alive. Ai smiled and blushed back

“How are you Rin?” Ai asked.

“…”

“Rin?”

How could Rin answer such a question? After all these months of having the guilt he’s had of Ai’s death and now knowing he’s alive and breathing and stuff just…how can he answer this damn question?

“Fine,” Rin finally says.

“Fine? You’re _fine?_ After all this time that’s all you can say?”

“Well it’s kind of hard to answer the question! I mean for the past two years I thought you were dead!”

Ai looked away, “Sorry, I—”

“There’s no need to apologize Ai, I didn’t answer your question well. I’ve been…well truthfully I’ve been kind of a mess until now.”

“Until now?”

Rin smiled again, “Well today I found out the two people I care about the most are alive.”

Ai blushed. Rin chuckled.

“So, you have a couple questions you need to answer for me Ai. How the fucking hell are you still alive? What’s with the eye patch? What have you been doing all this time? And why haven’t you contacted me this whole time to tell me you’re alive?”

Ai went from a blushing mess to sad in an instant. He looked at Rin straight in the eye and said, “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got until the morning,” Rin replied back.

Ai sighed and stayed quiet for a couple seconds, and then began, “After you left me, I was bitten multiple times on my chest and my face to where I lost my left eye, which is why I have the eye patch and scarring around my eye, and left for dead. Suddenly I heard gun shots and all the infected around me were shot away, but I knocked out from all the pain I was in. The next thing I know, I wake up in someone’s room with my wounds being patched up. At first I thought I was in the next world, but it turned out I was alive in a military hospital, and that I’m immune.”

“You’re immune?!”

“Yeah, it’s the only way to explain why I’m still here after over ten infected bites were inflicted on my chest and face yet I’m still me. Apparently a small population of the world is immune to this virus, and I’m one of them.”

Rin didn’t know what to say to that other than think it’s a miracle.

“I then found out that I was on a military boat and that they found me in the street, still alive and had no traces of the virus in my blood,” then Ai fell silent.

“…and?” Rin said.

“Sorry I just…this part is hard for me to talk about,” Ai said as he started to tear up.

Rin didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t mean to make Ai cry, “Take your time,” Rin said as he took Ai’s hand in his across the table and held it, “its ok.”

Ai looked at Rin with his one blue eye and started to talk again, “There were others, other people like me who were in the military facility who were immune. We,” a tear fell down Ai’s cheek, “we were tested on by numerous toxins that caused horrible side effects from mood swings to hallucinations to unbearable pain. They kept us like prisoners in a concentrated facility away from society like freaks, and we were treated like prisoners, guarded 24/7by military personnel’s who,” that’s why Ai started to choke up and cry. Rin got up and went over to Ai and hugged him, to which Ai obliged and cried onto his chest.

It took Ai a couple minutes to calm down, and then he continued, “I was able to escape after a year along with a couple other people. We found out we were in Area 3 and smuggled our way into Area 4, where I somehow ran into Gou and told her everything that happened. She let me live with her ever since, and I help keep the infected at bay with the separate military here.”

Rin was stunned by Ai’s story. He went through so much in the past couple years while he was gone, and even now he’s still alive and trying to survive. Rin was glad Ai was at least able to find Gou throughout his ordeal. Ai then hugged Rin again, “I’m just glad that you’re here, Senpai.”

Hearing Ai call Rin that word again triggered something in Rin that made him look down at Ai and deeply kiss him on the lips. Ai kissed Rin back and they soon started to make out and make their way to where Ai sleeps.

They soon were passionately making out on Ai’s futon. It had been so long for both of them since they had touched each other, they completely forgot until they first hugged about an hour ago. Ai got on top of Rin and they started grinding on each other. Rin groaned in the longing pleasure that he had missed. Ai went down and started to kiss Rin again as he grinded on him, and they quickly sunk into an eternal sexual bliss.

 


	12. An Intervention

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Nagisa said firmly.

“There’s no other way for you to work through it unless we talk about it Nagisa,” Rei said.

“No! You can’t make me! I don’t ever want to think about it ever again!” Nagisa yelled.

After Rin left, Makoto, Rei, and Haru were planning on having an intervention with Nagisa about his troubles. It’s not that they didn’t want Rin in on the conversation, he just happened to be leaving during the time they were going to talk. They knew Nagisa’s insomnia and lack of eating would soon severely affect his physical health and has already affected his mental health. They had to talk to him as soon as possible before it was too late.

“We’re only trying to help you,” Haru said.

“No you’re not! This isn’t helping me just leave me alone,” Nagisa said as he tried to walk towards the front door and was stopped by Rei.

“Nagisa, we only want you to know that we’re there for you, and there’s no reason for you to fear us or think we’re ganging up on you,” Rei said calmly and then said, “So please, at least listen to what we have to say before you go.”

Nagisa was hesitant, but then backed down and sat back down on the floor in the living room. Rei relaxed and sat in front of Nagisa alone with Makoto and Haru.

Makoto started off the conversation, “Nagisa, we all care about you very much, and knowing that you’re going through something alone scares us. We don’t want you to go through anything this tough alone and we want to be there for you. You know that none of us would judge you on what you’d say, and we just want to help. Please Nagisa, just talk to us about how you feel and we promise that we’ll help you get through it.”

“Nagisa,” Rei began and Nagisa looked towards him, “Seeing that you barley eat or sleep worries all of us. We only know so much about what happened back at your home, but we now know that it was severely affected your well being. We want you to get better but have no way of knowing how to help you if you don’t say anything. You may think not saying anything and bottling it all in will help, but it is doing the exact opposite. We’ve been best friends for so long and you know you can talk to me about anything if it’s troubling you.”

Haru was quiet for a couple seconds after Rei and Makoto spoke, but then looked Nagisa dead in his eyes and said, “Nagisa, I know we are two very different people. Although I’ve shown my discomfort when you would invade my personal space, I do miss the way you used to act. The way you wonder around now makes you look like an infected, like you have no life left in you. You’re the strongest person I know, having to not only deal with your family’s negativity with swimming, to having carry this burden of the slaughter of your infected family. The bubbly hopeful leader that we used to know is gone because of a tragic accident that wasn’t even your fault. It was never your fault. I _know_ that you think it’s your fault but it’s not. Your situation is more like you’re the sole survivor of your family rather than thinking it in the way you have. What you need to know is that I’m worried about you Nagisa. I’m not good at showing it, but I do care about you and your general welfare, and I just want you to get better and feel better about yourself.”

Everyone was astonished by what Haru said, and Nagisa started to cry.

“You guys,” he said through his sobs, “I’ve haven’t been doing to tell for the past month. What I haven’t told you guys is that, that night when all this shit happened, I got in a fight with my dad because he didn’t want me to go to Rei’s house to study, and then,” he started to sob harder again, “he called me a faggot.”

Makoto, Rei, and Haru were shocked by this. They also became angry at the long dead Mr. Hazuki for ever calling their dear friend something so offensive and hurtful.

Nagisa wiped his tears and continued, “Then I ran to my room for awhile, and then I went downstairs to find my dad and one of my sisters on the floor covered in blood. Then another one of them was completely mobile and tried to attack me and I ran upstairs and closed my door. Then I remembered my katana and well, you guys know the rest,” he said and then went back to crying in a crawled up position. Makoto and Rei all went over to him and gave him a hug.

“It’s okay Nagisa,” Makoto said.

“No it’s not! I killed my family!” Nagisa yelled through his tears, “I’m a murderer!”

Haru grabbed Nagisa shoulders, a rare human contact moment for both of them, and said, “Nagisa listen, your family was already turned before you knew it. You need to know that they weren’t your family anymore when you attacked them, and what you did is completely justified.”

Rei then continued on the same thought as Haru, “Haru’s right Nagisa, you’re _not_ a murderer and you never were.”

Nagisa continued to cry for a little while, and then calmed down. Later, Haru made dinner for everyone and Nagisa for the first time all month finished his food. Everyone was proud of him, especially himself. Later that night, Nagisa even went to sleep.

That morning, the former swimmers were all woken up by a knock at the door. Makoto was the one to get up and answer the door, and it was a woman with blond hair and pink eyes that said, “Hi um, is Hazuki Nagisa here?”

 


	13. Family Reunited

Makoto blinked a couple times, seeing that this woman looked familiar.

“My name is Hazuki Ayame, and I am Nagisa’s older sister,” she bowed to Makoto. It took Makoto a couple seconds to realize what she said, and then he put the pieces together that one of Nagisa’s family members was still alive.

“Nagisa!” Makoto yelled as he ran to the bedroom. Haru and Rei were up, but Nagisa was still catching up on his sleep. Makoto continued to nudge Nagisa until he finally woke up.

“What, what is it?” Nagisa mumbled.

“Nagisa get up!”

Nagisa barley sat up and rubbed his eyes, “What’s happening?” he said.

“Just get up and go to the front door!” Makoto said.

Nagisa wobbled as he got up, still half asleep, and walked slowly towards the front door. When he got to the front of the apartment, he saw a woman with blond hair and pink eyes.

“…Ayame?”

“Nagisa!” Ayame exclaimed. She then ran over to Nagisa and hugged him with all her might and then some, “I’m so glad you’re okay! My little brother is alive!”

Nagisa couldn’t believe what he was experiencing. For the first time in the past two years, he was happy. He was happy to see that at least one other person other than himself from his family survived.

“But…how are you alive?” Nagisa said.

“I should ask you the same thing! I was at university and was somehow able to escape all the chaos happening in the city. I just recently moved to this Area and I kept hearing my last name around, so I did some research and I found you!”

Nagisa smiled.

“So,” Ayame said as she sat down at their dining table, “Where’s the rest of the fam?”

Nagisa frowned, “They were all…”

“Oh,” Ayame said.

“I was the only one that survived, they were all turned and I ran away to the rescue boat,” Nagisa lied. He knew if she knew the truth that his sister wouldn’t be so happy, and he didn’t want a meltdown happening so early and in front of his friends.

Ayame had breakfast with everyone and then asked Nagisa if they could go outside and talk alone. Since it was the weekend and they didn’t have the work, Nagisa agreed and they went out walking around the neighborhood.

“So, what have you been up to these days?” Ayame asked.

“Well, I’ve just been living with my friends, and I have a job with this Area’s military for keeping the infected at bay,” Nagisa said.

“Hmm, interesting,” Ayame said.

“What have you been up to?” Nagisa asked.

“Oh well, after the whole infected thing happened, I somehow survived the invasion of my university and got to an evacuation boat. After that I’ve mostly been part of the media part, getting information from Area to Area, and now I’m here to gather information about this Area and spread it to the others,” Ayame answered.

“Oh,” Nagisa replied, “Is it nice?”

“Yeah, it beats the whole 9 to 5 thing they have a lot of people doing like yourself,” Ayame said and then stopped walking, “Nagisa, you’ve been quiet. Are you okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m just tired,” Nagisa said.

“No, that’s not it. I know when you’re lying!” Ayame said and got up in Nagisa’s face, “What’s wrong little brother?” she asked and pushed his head down with her hand.

“It’s nothing! Stop it!” Nagisa said.

Ayame stopped touching Nagisa, but then got a serious face, “I know you’re hiding something Nagisa, don’t lie to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Nagisa asked.

Ayame was quiet for a couple seconds, facing away from Nagisa. She took a deep breath, then said, “What happened to our family again?”

Nagisa was taken aback by the question, “I…I told you they were infected and I ran away—”

“NO!” Ayame yelled and turned around to face Nagisa, “YOU’RE LYING!”

Nagisa didn’t know what else to say. Ayame calmed down and then had an angry smile on her face, “Nagisa-chan, you know how I had to do some searching before I found you?”

This wasn’t good. Anytime any of his sisters added ‘chan’ to his name, it meant that something bad was going to happen.

“Yes…”

“Well, I was talking to some of your military buddies,” Ayame began.

_Oh no._

“And some of them were saying some stuff that you aren’t telling me, so I’m going to give you one last time Nagisa-chan: _what happened to our family?”_

“I…Well I—”

“Hazuki Nagisa, did you _kill_ our family?”

“What?! No I—look they were all infected and I was surrounded so I got my katana and—”

“YOU KILLED THEM DIDN’T YOU?!” Ayame yelled. Other people around started to look at the scene she was creating.

Nagisa started to cry again and said, “Yes yes okay! I did! I didn’t have a choice though, they were all turned and I had no choice Ayame I had no choi—”

Nagisa’s words were cut off by a slap to the face Ayame gave him. He held his cheek in shock as tears stream down his face.

“I-I’m sorry I—”

“SORRY DOESN’T BRING OUR FAMILY BACK! You, you _MURDERER_!” Ayame yelled.

“Ayame—”

“Don’t you ‘Ayame’ me! You’re not my brother anymore Nagisa,” she then started walking off, but then turned around and said, “Don’t you dare try to follow me either,” Ayame said, and then ran off leaving Nagisa an emotional mess.

_A…murderer?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave Nagisa's big sister a random Japanese name since we don't know their names (yet) in the show, so bare with me.


	14. Classified Reasons

“Ai, wake up!” Rin said. As soon as Rin and Ai were done, they went to sleep. When Rin woke up, he found Ai a sweating mess from a horrible nightmare.

“No, please, stop!” Ai whimpered in his sleep.

“Ai!” Rin said and then shook Ai to wake him up. This made Ai open his eyes and sit straight up breathing heavily.

“Ai!” said Gou running over from her cot across the room to Ai’s.

“Gou? When did you get back here?!” Rin said.

“I came home late last night after you two fell asleep,” Gou replied and then looked at Ai and said, “Was it the nightmares again Ai?”

Ai was still shaking from his dream, but managed to nod.

“Nightmares?” Rin said.

“O-Oh it’s nothing Rin. Sometimes I have nightmares of what happened back when I was detained,” Ai said.

“Did you take your anxiety medication last night?!” Gou said to Ai like a mother angry at her child.

“No,” Ai said back.

“Anxiety medication?” Rin said, but no one seemed to realize Rin was still in the room.

“Ai you have to take it every night you know that!” Gou said sternly to Ai.

“I know I know I just forgot,” Ai said, then looked at Rin, “I kind of had a big moment happen in my life that made me forget.”

Gou sighed, “Well don’t forget tonight,” she said when she got up and went back to her bed, “I’m going to sleep in some more, it’s my day off and it’s almost 8.”

Rin had an hour until he had to meet up with his military fleet, and he wanted to spend every second of it with Ai. They got dressed and went out for a walk so they wouldn’t bother Gou while she slept.

“So how long will you be staying here?” Ai asked.

“I have no idea, all I know is that we’re here under ‘classified reasons’,” Rin answered.

“Hmm, odd.”

“Yeah.”

Ai slowly stopped walking, and Rin noticed and turned around to find Ai looking down as if he feels ashamed about something.

“…Rin, I have something else to tell you, and you should probably sit down,” Ai said as he sat down on a nearby bench.

“Oh. Okay,” Rin said as he walked over to the bench and sat next to Ai.

“So, there’s something that I didn’t tell you that happened to me while I was there,” Ai then fell silent and looked at Rin for reassurance. Rin looked back at him and gave him a small smile, showing that he had his full attention and support for whatever Ai was about to say. He then looked down, and talked quietly, “While I was held prisoner in the military base, there was a guard there that particularly made my time there worse than it already was.”

Ai was silent again. Rin went to reach for Ai’s hand, but then denied the gesture.

“I was sexually assaulted by one of the guards.”

Rin stood up, shocked at what Ai just said, “…w-what?!”

Ai sat there in silence again.

“Ai…Ai I’m so sorry I—”

“It’s not your fault Rin, and it’s not mine either,” Ai said as if he too was trying to convince himself that it wasn’t his fault, “That act was the last straw I took and was the main reason why I escaped. I found out that the same guard was sexually assaulting other inmates too, and a couple of them joined me into escaping from the facility.”

Rin was still standing up; giving all the sympathy he could to Ai because he didn’t know what else to do. The fact that someone would do something so horrible to someone he cared about so much, he didn’t know whether to cry or start a witch hunt to find the person and kill them with his own bare hands.

“That’s what most of my nightmares are really. I was hoping now that you were here that they’d stop, but I guess not,” Ai said softly. Rin quickly hugged Ai with all his might and said, “I’m sorry Ai.”

Ai gave a small smile, “Thank you Rin.”

The clock in the neighborhood went off, indicating that it was now 9AM.

“Oh shit I’m late!” Rin said and he let go of Ai, but then felt bad as soon as he let go of him.

“It’s fine Rin. You need to go, and I’m still tired. I have a day off today so I’m just going to sleep for most of the day. Come and visit me when you can,” Ai said and then gave Rin a quick kiss, one that now doesn’t involve him getting on his tippy toes, and lightly pushed him to get going.

Rin was surprised by the kiss, but then smiled at Ai and then started to run to the point where his military group said to meet. When Rin got there, the general was already speaking, and he quickly snuck in between a couple people to hear what he was saying.

“Okay everyone, listen up! We will be here for today and tomorrow for this mission and then go back to Area 7. You will be split into groups of three and be sent to different sections of Area 4 to complete this mission quickly and efficiently. What you must know is that the disease that has spread and has drastically destroyed our beloved Nippon and Earth, there is a cure being worked on by people all over the world.”

The group was surprised and people started to chat about, which caused the general to be irritated.

“SILENCE! Anyway, what you must also know is that there is a small percentage of the population that is immune to the disease. Our mission today is to escort those who are immune in Area 4 to Area 3, where the main laboratories are, so they can further help find a cure for this infection. We will start on this side of the Area today, and then go to the north side, which we will then escort all immune to Area 3 where they will further help find a cure. Everyone will be given a list of the names and addresses of those who are immune here, but the ones highlighted that are given to you are the ones that you will specifically escort to Area 3. _Those that have a star next to their name are of the most importance to get back to Area 3, so don’t miss them!_ ”

Papers were then passed around to everyone with their name on them. Rin was then given his paper with five names highlighted. But, one of the names caught his eye:

**Nitori Aichurro***

 


	15. Triggered

Nagisa was a wreck. He stood in the middle of the walkway, traumatized at what his sister just called him. He walked back home to find Makoto, Haru, and Rei still there. They all looked at Nagisa as he came in alone with the face of someone who just found a dead body. Rei ran over to him and asked if he was okay, he didn’t respond. Nagisa just walked away from everyone and into the bedroom, where he went to his futon, curled up under the covers and laid there in silence.

After a while, he fell back asleep and woke up to a knock a couple hours later from Rei. Rei came in with some lunch for him, but Nagisa said he wasn’t hungry. Rei asked him what happened with his sister, but Nagisa said that he didn’t want to talk about it. Rei reminded him that talking about things is what will help him through his troubles, which made Nagisa yell back that he’s fine and hit the bowl of rice given to him across the room into the wall breaking it. Nagisa quietly apologized, but could quickly tell that he went over the line with his latest action.

Haru walked in to find that the bowl was broken, and was shown to be irritated. Haru told that although Nagisa was having a rough moment, it doesn’t mean he can just break things. Nagisa quietly apologized again and said that he would clean it up. Haru left Rei and Nagisa in a room full of silence. Rei quietly asked Nagisa what’s gotten into him. Nagisa would cry right now, but he’s cried so much lately he’s run out of tears.  Nagisa quietly told him what happened with his sister, and Rei became infuriated. How could someone do something like that to Nagisa, let alone his own sister! Rei told him over and over that he wasn’t a murderer, and to not listen to what she said, but it looked like Nagisa’s mind was made up about himself. Nagisa asked if he could just be alone for a little while longer, and that he’ll clean up the rice later. Rei did as he asked, and left the room.

Nagisa hated himself. Well, that’s a blunt way of putting it, but he really wished he was a completely different person. Even when he had a normal life he wasn’t fond of himself. His sisters’ constant harassment and not having the best kind of grades and hobbies to make his dad proud was a constant stress on him, but he never liked to talk about it because he never wanted to be a burden on anyone’s life. One of the things he liked the most was to see people happy, and why bring anyone down with his problems when he could just not?

Nagisa had had enough with his current situation. He couldn’t stand the fact that he can’t get over what he did to his family, what his last words were to his father, and just that he’s been a complete basket case since the infection period started. He’s tried to get better, but he can’t seem to feel better. This might be what they call depression, he’s thought, but he could never be sure and could just be being a brat about everything. Everyone else has been so strong, he hasn’t even see Rei cry! Makoto has always been a big help when it comes to him breaking down and crying all the time, and even after Haru lost his leg, he’s gone back to himself within weeks of the whole incident. He’s the only one who hasn’t gotten it together. He’s the one who won’t get it together.

He will never get it together.

Nagisa has been feeling like more of a burden to his group. Although he’s good at his job, he’s been sent home so many times for causing a scene the only reason he hasn’t been fired is because he’s one of the best at it. When everyone is trying to have a good time, he seems to just ruin it. Nagisa is such a mess. He’s a burden. He…he shouldn’t even exist.

Nagisa sat up from his futon, found some paper and a pen and wrote a note. He slowly went to the door and looked outside to find that no one was around, and that Haru was probably in the bathtub again. He put the note he wrote on the kitchen table, grabbed his sword, and went outside.

Nagisa walked to the abandoned building that he found Makoto and Rin making out by, and went inside. It was a nice day out, the sun shining through the holes of the ceiling. No one was inside, which was perfect, and he sat down in the middle of the abandoned building. His breath started to shake because of the act he was about to commit. His hand shook as he grabbed the sword and pointed it towards his stomach. He put both hands on the sword, brought the sword back, stabbed himself and slashed the sword horizontally in his abdomen.

Rei walked into the apartment after taking a refreshing jog outside. He noticed a note on the kitchen counter, and picked it up and began to read it:  


_Dear Haru, Makoto, and Rei,_

_I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden to you guys. You have been so supportive of me through my tough times, and yet I haven’t gotten better or have even tried to get better. I’ve thought it through, but a depressed murderer like me doesn’t belong in the world. I’m moving on to the next one. Please try to live a long and happy life._

_I will miss you all,_

_Hazuki Nagisa_

Rei was in shock by the note that he dropped it. He quickly ran to the bedroom to find no Nagisa, but the broken bowl of rice still in the same place. He then ran back outside to look for Nagisa before it was too late.

Nagisa was in most pain of his life. He thought dying this way would be the most honorable way to go, since he hasn’t done anything honorable in his life. He wasn’t regretting trying to end his life, but maybe trying to end it this way. There was no one here to finish the job officially by chopping off his head or anything, so he would die a slow painful death. As the blood loss started to get to him, and he started to fade in and out of reality, he could’ve sworn someone was calling out his name. The sound was getting closer. It was…

Nagisa passed out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku


	16. Escape

Rin started to put the pieces together and freak out internally. They were about to round up all of the immune people like cattle and send them to their possible deaths through the horrors of what Ai went through. He was also wondering too why Ai’s name had a star next to it. Do they know that he’s a fugitive to their prison and they’re bringing him back?

He had to get Ai out of this.

Before everyone was sent out, Rin went to have a little chat with the general.

“Um, sir?” Rin said to the general.

“Ah Matsouka, what is it now?” the general said.

“Why was I sent to do something like this? I can’t imagine rounding these people up like animals to be sent to a place where who knows what they’ll do to them!”

“Well you see I chose you and all of these people here for this specific mission because you are all known to be tough and have some type of temper that will make people fear you! I couldn’t send people that were soft hearted on a mission where there might be some difficulties.”

“What do you mean by ‘difficulties’?”

“Well you know, people might resist and we’re going to need people who can handle that.”

“Well of course they’re going to resist they’re being taken away from their homes!”

“Look Matsouka, you’re going through with this mission and you’re going to find these people that have been highlighted on your list!” the general said and grabbed Rin’s list to look at it, “Ah, I see you’re even after one of the starred names,” he pushed back the paper onto Rin’s chest hard and said seriously, “you better not mess this up Matsouka,” and walked away.

Rin went to his group of two other men, and said that it would be easier if they split up and got the people like that than going as a group. The other two men agreed, and they each assigned each other names for them to get. Rin immediately said that he was going to go after Ai, and the other men decided to go after two other men since the other names weren’t starred, making them think they’d be easier catches. They split up and Rin ran to Ai’s house as fast as he could.

Rin knocked on the door hard and yelled, “AI, GOU, OPEN UP!”

Ai was the one to open the door while Gou was standing in the kitchen looking at Rin with a concerned look. Rin ran into the apartment, closed the door, double locked the door, and then ran and closed all the windows.

“You’re in trouble Ai,” Rin said.

“What are you talking about?” Ai said back.

“That mission that I was sent to do here was to round up everyone in this Area who’s immune and send them back to the labs to try to make a cure for the infection!”

Ai and Gou were speechless. Ai had fear in his eyes and said, “I don’t want to go back. I DON’T WANT TO GO BACK!” Ai held his head, went down in the fetal position and quietly said again, “I don’t want to go back Rin.”

Rin and Gou went over to Ai to try to get him to calm down.

“Come on Ai, Rin isn’t going to take you back, right Rin?” Gou said as she looked up at Rin for any kind of reassurance.

“No of course not! I’ll find a way…” Rin said. Then they heard screaming coming from outside. Rin and Gou went over to the window to see a girl being taken away by two men. She was screaming and trying to get out of their grasp, but they were too strong for her and she was dragged away.

Rin and Gou looked at each other in worry. They had to make sure Ai didn’t go back to Area 3.

“Okay, we’re going to have to come up with some sort of plan to sneak you out of this Area, and possibly into mine,” Rin said to Ai who was still sitting in a crouched position, remembering all the horrors that happened back at the lab.

“I think I know what to do,” Rin said, then looked at Ai who had calmed down a bit, “Ai, are you ready to listen to me,” Ai looked up at Rin and nodded, “Okay,” Rin took out of his pocket a gun that was given to him from the military, “Are you any good with a gun?”

“Yes,” Ai said surprisingly. Rin gave him and odd look, but then Ai said, “I’ve been through a lot Rin, you’d think I wouldn’t know how to use a gun?”

“N-No, I’m just…surprised is all,” Rin said. He could never see Ai shooting a gun, necessarily well, but he took his word for it and gave Ai the gun, “What we’re going to do is that I’ll distract the guards that are guarding the on the side gates a block from here, and then you’ll climb the fence and have to make a break for it.”

“You want him to make a break for it in the infested areas?!” Gou exclaimed.

“Well we have no other choice! All you have to do is go south and at some point you’ll reach Area 7. You should also pack your belongings, some food, and possibly a knife,” Rin explained.

“Rin this is too dangerous, Ai will die out there—”

“Okay,” Ai said.

“What?!” Gou said.

“I have no other choice Gou, this could be my only chance to make it,” Ai stood up and wiped his eyes, “Thank you for being kind and opening your home to me, I hope to see you again Gou,” Ai went up to Gou and hugged her. Gou was surprised by the affection, but she hugged back. When they let go, Ai packed the few belongings he had and Gou helped him pack some food for a couple days, but not so much that it made it look like he had a lot and bandits would go after him.

“Oh! Ai, I think you’ll need this more than me,” Gou said going to her futon and reaching under it to find a machete. She walks over and hands it to Ai.

“Why would you have something like that?!” Rin says to Gou.

“Because we’re in a zombie apocalypse,” Gou says to Rin, then looks at Ai and smiles back, “and don’t worry Ai, I can get another one at some point later.”

Rin gave another odd look back at his sister. I guess she really has grown up. Rin then looked back at Ai who looked like he was ready to go.

“Are you ready?” Rin asked Ai.

Ai nodded.

“Alright, let’s do this.”


	17. Recovery

_“Nagisa? NAGISA!”_

_“Please stay with me, don’t go!”_

_“Nagisa…”_

“Will he be okay?” Rei asked.

“We’ll tell you as soon as we can Mr. Ryuugazaki. Right now he’s in surgery and he’s lost a lot of blood, so we can’t tell until post surgery if he’ll survive or not,” the doctor told Rei.

Rei was able to find Nagisa just a couple minutes after he committed seppuku. Nagisa was passed out in his own blood and Rei carried him all the way to the small hospital they had. He had blood stains all over his arms and shirt from keeping the wound from spreading any further. Rei went and sat down in the waiting room for awhile with his face in his hands. He was trying to hard not to cry, but suddenly he just started to silently sob. The tears mixed in with the blood on his hands, making the mixed liquids hit the floor. A nurse came by and gave Rei a towel to wipe off the blood of his friend.

Makoto and Haru came in and saw Rei wiping off the blood and his tears, and they knew that the situation was bad.

“Rei, we came as soon as we could! What happened?”

Rei went into his pocket and took out the crumpled suicide note and handed it to Makoto without saying a word. Makoto and Haru uncrumpled the note and read it.

“Oh no…” Makoto said. Haru had a shocked expression and covered his mouth.

“He committed suicide by seppuku,” Rei said softly then sobbed out, “with his own sword.”

“Is he…” Makoto couldn’t even finish the sentence, he couldn’t imagine Nagisa dead.

“He’s in surgery right now,” Rei said through his sobs, then cleared his throat, “but they won’t know if he’s really okay until the surgery is done.”

Then, a doctor came out of the operation room, and Rei stood up along with Makoto and Haru.

“How is he?” Rei asked.

“He’s still in critical condition, but there’s a good chance of survival since you brought him in so quickly,” the surgeon said.

Rei, Makoto, and Haru all sighed in relief.

“You can see him later, but for now he’s asleep from the anesthesia and won’t be up for awhile. It’s best for now to let him rest,” the surgeon said to them, then left them with their thoughts.

Makoto turned to Rei and asked, “Rei, are you going to be okay?”

“Y-yeah, I think so. I’m just worried about Nagisa, I don’t want to leave him,” Rei said as he started to tear up again. He hated crying, it was too emotional for his taste, but he couldn’t help but feel responsible for Nagisa’s suicide attempt. Rei felt that it was partly his fault that Nagisa felt so bad about himself that he could do something like this. Did he not talk to him enough? How could he not see the signs?

Then, Rei remembered something.

“Wait guys!” Rei said to get Haru and Makoto’s attention, “What was Nagisa doing the before all of this happened?”

“Wasn’t he with his sister at the time?” Makoto said.

“Yeah, he went for a walk with his sister and then…this happened,” Rei started to grow suspicious of Nagisa’s sister. Did she know he felt this way and didn’t bother to tell them? Or, was she the cause of Nagisa’s meltdown? Rei was going to get some answers, “Do you guys know where Nagisa’s sister might be right now?” Rei asked.

“I think she said she was staying around the military area since she was some kind of reporter,” Makoto said.

Rei started to walk out of the hospital when Makoto asked, “Rei, where are you going?”

“I’m going to go find Nagisa’s sister; she must know something about what happened today. We can’t see him right now anyways, so I’ll come back later,” Rei said, then continued on his way out.

 

After asking around the military area for about half an hour, Rei found out where Ayame was staying. He knocked on the door and she answered the door with curiosity, but then looked in disgust at who it was, “Oh. What do you want?”

Rei was surprised at her attitude, but continued to be nice, “Hi Ayame-kun, I have some sensitive information I need to tell you about your brother, would I be able to come in?”

Ayame looked at him for a couple seconds, and then opened the door wider to let him in. The place was a small studio apartment with the essentials. She went and sat down at a chair and then said, “What happened to my murderous bro?”

“Murderous?” Rei said. What kind of way is that to describe her brother?

“Yeah, I talked to some of the guys around here if they knew anything about the whereabouts of Nagisa, and they told me about what he did back at our home to our family, and I wasn’t too happy hearing that,” Ayame said with malice.

“What do you mean? He didn’t murder your family, they were already infected—”

“Oh don’t give me that shit, he already told me that too.”

Rei could tell where this was going, “Did you say something to Nagisa that could have made him…act out of sorts?”

“All I did was call him a murderer—”

“You did what?!” Rei exclaimed.

“Yeah, and I ran off back here because I was so upset to find out it was true!”

Rei became enraged at Ayame for committing this act. Could she not tell that that experience would not only take a toll on her but on Nagisa as well? Nagisa was already acting out of sorts and depressed, and calling him a murderer after Makoto, Haru, and Rei had that talk with him would have had made some serious mental scars on Nagisa.

“How could you have said something like that to your own brother?!” Rei yelled, “Could you not tell that having to do some kind of act like that would take a toll on his mind? He hasn’t been sleeping and eating properly for months, and just when we thought we were getting through to him you have to come in and call him the thing he hated himself for! You should know that right now he is in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt!”

“Suicide?!” Ayame exclaimed.

“Yeah, he committed seppuku with his own sword and I found him bleeding to death in an abandoned building!” Rei said.

“Oh no,” Ayame said and started to tear up, “oh no oh no oh no…I never meant for this to happen.”

“Well it did, and he would sure like an apology and your support instead of your hatred in his time of need.”

Ayame was upset with what she had done. She was known for being a flair for the dramatic, but she never intended for things to get this out of hand.

“I’m…I’m sorry, I never meant for this to happen,” Ayame said.

“Well you can tell him that at the hospital in a couple days when he wakes up,” Rei said, then walked out of her apartment and then closed the door.


	18. Escape II

There were multiple hard knocks at Gou’s door. Gou, Ai, and Rin were all startled by the sound.

“Shit, that must be my group coming for you,” Rin said, “I must’ve taken too long.”

“Quick, you two hide while I talk to them,” Gou said.

Rin and Ai hid in the closet in the back of the room while Gou went and answered the door where two men stood in front of her with intimidating faces.

“Hello?” Gou said innocently.

“Hello mam is Nitori Aichurro living in this residence?” one of the men said.

“Oh yes, but he’s out right now. Can I take a message?”

“Oh no, this is specifically only for his ears to here. We actually need to see him as soon as possible,” the same man said.

“Before we go, mind if we take a look around?” the other man asked.

“I really wouldn’t want you to, it’s a mess and I was getting ready to do some chores—”

“Well when we asked it was really a question, more of a demand to let us in,” one of the men said, then pushed Gou aside and let him and the other male in.

Rin and Nitori could hear the conversation from the closet, and could hear footsteps getting closer. Rin started to panic. From the path the footsteps were going, you could tell that they were going to check the closet. What were they going to do? Suddenly, the closet door burst open with a hand from the outside, and Ai grabbed Rin and put the gun to his head.

“Let me go, or I’ll shoot,” Ai said seriously.

“What the fuck?!” Rin exclaimed.

 Ai then whispered to Rin, “Play along,” then Rin nodded slightly.

“What?!” Gou and both of the guys in front of them said.

“Don’t shoot!” Rin exclaimed, playing along with Ai’s act. Rin then looked at Gou who was terrified, but gave her a look that they both understood that what was happening wasn’t real. He was hoping things wouldn’t have come to this.

“Let me go, I’ll do it!” Ai said again but louder and emphasizing the gun that’s pointing to Rin’s head.

“Whoa man, take it easy, we don’t want any trouble,” the man closest to the gun said with his hands up.

“Then you’ll let me go and no one will get hurt,” Ai said.

“O-Okay man, just take it easy,” one of guys said and backs away from Ai.

“Wait, we can’t leave here empty handed, we’ll get in serious trouble!” the other man said.

“He has Rin as a hostage, what else are we supposed to do?!”

There was hesitant silence. Then, both of the men backed out of Ai’s way. Ai took Rin with him across the room with the gun still to his head, and once he got to the front door, he shoved Rin back into the apartment and made a break for it.

“Quick after him!” one of the men shouted as he began to run towards the door. That’s when Rin hit him over the head and knocked him out. The other man then looked at Rin with a confused look, and was then punched in the face by Rin and he was knocked out as well. Rin then started to drag one of the guy’s body’s out of Gou’s apartment, and then Gou went over and helped Rin, which Rin gave another odd look to her seeing how ok she was with the current situation.

“What? I don’t want these guys to be found in my place!” Gou said as she picked up the bottom half of the first man’s unconscious body.

Ai started running down the street to the side gate. Once he gets to the gate, he sees there are two guards with guns as well in his way. He hides behind a building trying to figure out what to do. He wished Rin was with him at the moment, he’d know what to do. Rin and Gou suddenly run Ai’s way and meet up with him.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” Ai asks.

“Well I feel better now that there isn’t a _gun_ to my head,” Rin says.

“He was just trying to get us out of a sticky situation Rin, don’t be that way,” Gou said.

“I’m sorry I had to do that Rin, it felt like I had no choice and had to act fast. Plus, it worked,” Ai said to Rin.

Rin sighed and put his hand onto his face from the stress of the situation, and then said, “So what’s next? You need to get past the guards here,” then Rin looked and sees that they’re armed and definitely more dangerous than what they pulled off a couple minutes ago, “Shit, I don’t think we can take them.”

“Me neither,” Ai said.

“Wait! I think I have a solution for this,” Gou said, then started walking in the other direction from the guards, “Follow me.”

They followed Gou to an abandoned market that was next to the fencing of the Area. It was covered in vines and mold, looking like it hasn’t been used since the infection started.

“There’s a secret underground tunnel that goes to the sewers in this building, people use it sometimes to smuggle illegal supplies and weapons; it’s how I got my machete, and probably how I’m going to get another,” Gou said, “The problem is, since it’s connected to the outside, there’s a chance there could be some infected down there, so you’d have to be extra careful Ai.”

“Gou, this is amazing, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Rin asked.

“Your plan sounded safer than going through such a dangerous route!” Gou said.

Gou open the door and showed them behind the counter was an opening to the tunnel, “Just go down here for about 500 meters, and you should reach an open manhole with a ladder to climb out of.”

“Okay. Thank you guys so much for helping me,” Ai said, “Bye Gou, I hope to see you again as well,” Ai said to Gou.

“Bye Ai, I hope to see you again too!” Gou said.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay going down there Ai?” Rin asked.

“Rin, a lot has happened to me since you’ve been gone. I’ve grown into a stronger person than I was at Samezuka. I’ve had to, and I won’t let anything stop me anymore. I’m done being afraid, and I know I can make it if I try hard enough!” Ai then grabbed Rin and deeply kissed him, and let him go, “I will see you again Rin, and I’ll give you more than a kiss next time,” he said with a sly smile. Gou giggled at the act and Rin blushed.

Ai then walked down into the hole, and Rin and Gou stayed there until they couldn’t hear Ai’s footsteps anymore.


	19. Recovery II

Nagisa woke up the next day. Everything was a blur of white walls and a bright light when he opened his eyes, then a little bit of blue as he turned his head. It turned out that the blue belonged to Rei, and Rei was sleeping in a chair next to Nagisa’s hospital bed. Nagisa tried to reach out to him, but when he moved his torso he cried out in pain and retracted back. Oh yeah, he tried to kill himself. The bandages were very tight on Nagisa’s torso, keeping him from barley moving but when he did it hurt. Rei heard the noise Nagisa made, and opened his eyes to find Nagisa staring back at him. He sat straight up and realized that Nagisa was awake.

“Nagisa!”

“Rei-chan…”

“Nagisa…”

Nagisa then gave Rei a small warm smile. Even though Nagisa’s attempt a death did fail, he was glad he at least woke up to Rei next to him.

“Why did you save me?” Nagisa asked quietly.

Rei was taken aback by the question. Why did he save him? How could—why would—

“I didn’t want to lose you,” Rei said. It could have sounded less romantic than it did, but he was still glad he said it.

This made Nagisa start to choke up, and a couple tears fell horizontally down his face, “I didn’t want to be saved Rei,” Nagisa said through the tears, “Why did you save me?”

“Because you don’t deserve death Nagisa!” Rei said, “The last thing you deserve is for your life to end. You were making a huge mistake because of your current state, and I didn’t want you to pay for something that you were having a hard time handling by yourself.”

“Rei, I—”

Nagisa was interrupted by the doctor coming into the room.

“Hazuki, you’re awake!” the doctor said, “We need to do a checkup on your wound to see how much long you’ll need to stay here.”

Nagisa quickly wiped the tears from his eyes before the doctor could see. After the doctor checked Nagisa’s vitals and his wound, he left the room, and Rei chased after him and talked to him outside of the room.

“Doctor!” Rei said. The doctor stopped walking and turned to see Rei. Rei then said, “Um, sir, what Nagisa did was…self inflicted and I was wondering if in the current state of our health care if there would be any way to help him more than just fixing his wound.”

“Well, because of our limitations Ryuugazaki, we can’t do much to help your friend, but we have a couple nurses here that could check on him and talk to him while he’s here, but it would cost extra for them to check on him at home,” the doctor explained.

“How much extra?”

“More than what he makes in the military that’s for sure. Not to mention because he’s 18 he gets to choose whether or not he wants the extra help, and based on the little conversations I’ve had with him, he doesn’t want it.”

Rei was upset that he couldn’t do anything to help Nagisa. He could tell Nagisa didn’t know what to do after his attempt failed, and he was in a delicate state at this time as well.

“Is there anything else my friends and I can do?” Rei asked.

“Well, we have some pamphlets you guys can look through to know how to talk to him, but other than that that’s all we have. Sorry we can’t be anymore help,” the doctor said.

A couple days later, Nagisa was taken back to his home where he was told that he couldn’t work for another couple weeks until his wound was fully healed. Rei was also assigned by the military to keep an eye on Nagisa while he’s recovering. Rei knew they were just making him do it because Nagisa’s a great asset to them, but he didn’t complain. Rei basically hovered over Nagisa for the first couple days. Nagisa found it kind of annoying, but he knew Rei meant well.

Haru was in the kitchen, finishing up making dinner and everyone was settling down at the table.

“I think that Rin is coming back tomorrow,” Makoto said.

“Really? Has it already been that long?” Rei asked.

“Am I…” Nagisa tried to say but then trailed off. Rei, Makoto, and Haru stopped what they were doing to listen to what he had to say. This made Nagisa more nervous, but said anyway, “Am I going to have to tell him what happened?”

“It’s probably best that you do Nagisa,” Rei said.

Nagisa looked back down at his area at the table, and then it was replaced with some rice and mackerel. Nagisa at slowly and only half of his meal, so Haru refrigerated the rest of it as everyone went to bed. Nagisa still sat at the table lost in thought, and Rei decided to sit with him while everyone else went to bed.

“Nagisa, how have you been doing?”

Nagisa shrugged his arms, “Fine I guess.”

Rei was trying to find something, anything to say to make Nagisa feel better. Rei and Nagisa were surrounded by silence, until Nagisa said quietly, “Why did you save me Rei?”

Rei sat up, looked at Nagisa, and said, “Because you’re my best friend, I didn’t want to lose you.”

“…”

“…you don’t deserve to die Nagisa,” Rei said.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why do I not deserve to die Rei? I have been nothing but a burden ever since I slaughtered my family back home, I haven’t improved in any sort and I don’t see my life getting better. Look around us! We’re surrounded by infected that could any day just accidently get in and we’re again back to where we were a couple years ago! Running for our lives, losing our friends and family, seeing people’s insides ripped out on a daily basis is horrible way of life, and it’s not the life I want to live! So yes Rei, why do I deserve to live?!”

Rei was speechless. It was rare to see Nagisa this upset, and he really had no idea he felt this way. Rei thought long and hard about what to say.

“Someone like you doesn’t deserve to end their life in the way you tried to. You have been through so much, and it has made you stronger. Ever since you talked to me at school to join the swim club, I saw that you were a persistent, bright, and courageous person. Nagisa, you are the highlight of my life. You have shown me how much more beautiful life is, but you have lost that sense ever since all of this happened. I—we want nothing more for you than to get better and become the Nagisa that we all know and love again. So _no_ Nagisa, you do not deserve to die, because you are the most beautiful thing in everyone’s lives.”

A tear fell down Nagisa’s eye, and he was astonished. He never knew someone he cared for so much could say things about that to him. Someone that he longed for so long could say something as nice and caring to him. An impulse came over Nagisa, he grabbed Rei’s face, and kissed him.


	20. Feelings

When Nagisa let go, Rei stood there with his mouth open in shock. Did Nagisa just _kiss_ him?! What the hell was going on?

“I…Rei I’m so sorry I—”

“Nagisa what—”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry,” Nagisa said as he started to tear up. After all that Rei had done for him, he had to go and just fuck up and kiss him. He just, he couldn’t help it though, after all the nice things Rei was saying about him and _everything about him just looked so…kissable_ , “I have to go,” Nagisa got up and tried to run for the door, but Rei stopped him by grabbing one of his arms. Nagisa then grabbed his torso from the pain of getting up too fast and stretching too far for his almost healed wound to handle. He fell to his knees with tears in his eyes from the pain of his wound and the verbal beating he was about to get from Rei.

“Nagisa wait, let’s talk about this,” Rei said.

Nagisa started to shut down from the world and stay in a little bubble that was him bending over looking down at his feet while motionless.

“Nagisa!” Rei said as he bent over in front of Nagisa, “Nagisa please get up, we can talk about this, I’m not mad at you,” Rei then put a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder and another on his chin to force him to look Rei in the eye, “Nagisa, I’m not mad at you, I just want to talk, is that okay?”

Nagisa was now looking through Rei with fearful teary eyes, afraid if he moved that the world would fall apart.

“Nagisa are you okay? You’re scaring me,” Rei said in a frightened tone. He may be extremely confused on why Nagisa kissed him, but he was still worried about Nagisa’s current mental state. He didn’t know what to do, and nothing in the pamphlets that he was given from the doctor said anything about this! Out of impulse for the sake of Nagisa, Rei hugged him tightly and quietly said, “It’s okay Nagisa, it’s okay,” to which Nagisa started to sob into Rei’s shirt once more and say incoherent things.

“Hmm? What did you say?” Rei said.

“I, I like you Rei-chan. I really really like you,” Nagisa said as he tried to get a hold of himself by wiping his already puffy eyes and coughing to get the phlegm out of his throat, “and I’m sorry that I do, because you don’t feel the same way.”

“Nagisa I…” that was all Rei could say.

Nagisa coughed a couple more times to clear his throat, and then said in a normal tone, “It’s ok if you don’t feel the same way. I’m sorry I kissed you; you probably didn’t think that was very pleasant. Let’s just forget it ever happened and just continue being friends, okay? Okay.”

“Um…okay?” Rei said, because he really didn’t know what else to say.

Nagisa then stood up and said, “I’m tired, so I’m going to bed,” he then walked to the bedroom and closed the door, leaving Rei suspended in a confused reality. He was…he didn’t know what he was. Rei didn’t really believe in things like ‘love’ and ‘having feelings for another’, so the fact that someone close to him felt that way towards him, he was taken aback. What did he do now? I mean, he cared for Nagisa very much, but he doesn’t know if those kinds of feelings are the same as the ones Nagisa has.

For the longest time Rei’s parents thought Rei was a late bloomer, but Rei thought he was just incapable of love. He never really had any feelings for anyone, while in middle school when everyone had their secret crushes; Rei still had his books and studies he wanted to focus on. Now even in when he was in high school, he never felt anything for anyone. His sexual organs were fully operational, because no matter what his heart was supposed to feel his penis felt before he realized what it was, but his heart never needed anyone. He came to the conclusion awhile ago that it was because he was such a logical person that ‘love’ and ‘feelings’ were something illogical that he just couldn’t obtain.

The subject kept Rei up for most of the night. Why would Nagisa have these kinds of ‘feelings’ for him? Were they so powerful that Nagisa had to perform the act of kissing with no consent on him? More importantly, what kinds of ‘feelings’ did Rei have for Nagisa?

The next morning, Rei was exhausted. At one point during breakfast, he almost fell asleep into his oatmeal until Makoto said something, “Rei are you okay? Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Huh?” Rei said as he sat up, he looked at Nagisa, but Nagisa kept his head down and slowly at his oatmeal, “Y-yeah I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

Nagisa dropped his spoon and it made a noise that disturbed everyone’s thought process. Everyone turned toward him, but he just slowly picked up his spoon and started eating again.

Then a knock at the door was heard, and then a jangle of keys and a little cursing was heard as well. The door then opened, and it was Rin.

“Rin!” Makoto and Rei said.

“Hey guys, it’s good to be back, and I also bring good news! Ai and Gou are alive!”

Everyone (including Nagisa) stopped doing what they were doing and looked at Rin in surprise.

“Yeah, they were both in the Area I went to visit! I found Gou in the market there and she led me to Ai. Apparently they found each other and were living together. Ai on the other hand is missing an eye and has some scars, but other than that he perfectly fine! And better yet, he’s secretly transferring to our Area and is coming to live with us!”

“Rin I’m happy for you, but aren’t there already too many of us living here?” Makoto asked in a worried tone.

“Oh don’t worry; he can just sleep next to me where Seijuro slept. And I mean, we’re kind of together so we can scooch a bit closer to each other if you need the space,” Rin said with a smile as if he just got laid.

“Are you guys dating or something?” Haru asked.

“Try not to perv out around us would you Rin?” Nagisa said as he ate his oatmeal.

Rin was surprised that Nagisa of all people said that to him, “Wow Nagisa, in bit of a mood are we? And uh, yeah we kind of are Haru.”

Everyone was then silent. Rin still didn’t know what happened while he was gone.

“Um, Rin, could I talk to you in private—”

“While you were gone I tried to kill myself,” Nagisa said bluntly, then taking another bite of his oatmeal.

Rin was shocked to hear what Nagisa just said, “Whoa man, don’t joke about that shit.”

Nagisa then lifted his shirt to reveal the thick bandages wrapped around his waist, “I’m not joking.”

“…!” Rin was speechless. Nagisa of all people, committing suicide. Not just that, but knowing that he _failed_ to kill himself and that he’s still alive. Tears started to form in Rin’s eyes and he turned around to not very well hide the fact he was crying.

“Damnit Nagisa! What do you mean you tried to kill yourself?! That’s crazy!” he said through the tears he wiped away, then turned around and yelled, “You’re the strongest person I know, how could someone like you want to end their life just like that?!”

Nagisa looks at Rin with blank eyes and says, “It’s a long story.”


End file.
